Meme - Twenty Fanfic Writing Questions
Feb. 11th, 2008 10:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
on_holy_ground1. How about a brief introduction?
I generally go by the name Dia, which is pronounced just like ‘die’ by the way. Why, you ask? Well it’s because my online name is a shortened version of the word diamond from my username, and where I come from we don’t pronounce the ‘a’. I know, it’s fucked up, right? Welcome to my crazy world.
2. What got you into fan fiction (and/or adopting muses)?
One day I popped into a chatroom full of Methos lovers. Only these people liked to have the ROG come to visit the room on occasion and much fun was had by all. Eventually, there were just a few of us hanging around all the time and we all started bringing in our other favorite characters to play off each other. We kept adding more until we had a freaking stable full of the little bastards. It was cracktastic! Eventually I started dabbling in writing the occasional drabble and ficlet, and once I was introduced to the world of TM, I was a total goner.
3. What kind of fan fiction do you write?
Whatever strikes me fancy at the time? I mean I have a rather diverse set of muses, and they all do different kinds of stuff. That’s why I picked them up in the first place was so that I could work in different areas and not just do one kind of writing. I suppose I prefer the character driven stuff though, at least for the most part. I like knowing what makes them tick, and trying to get the people who read them to have some kind of response to them that makes the muse memorable. I want people to want to know more about them and to keep reading to find out. I want them to research the characters I play on their own. I want them to laugh, or cry, or shiver, or just stop and think. I want what I write to have some kind of impact, even if only for a moment. That’s the kind of stuff I try to write.
4. Do you write for the same pairings/characters?
I tend to be loyal to my muses. Once I pick one up, they tend to stick around. I’ve rarely had a voice grow quiet for long, although I have stopped playing on occasion when I’ve felt the need to let them rest or whatever. Some may not be as vocal or need the limelight like others and so they don’t write as much, but they are always there. As for pairings, I let the muse decide where that will go. I’ve never tried to force a muse into being with someone they didn’t want to be with, and I’ve never tried to keep them with someone if things aren’t working out. I love the pairings my muses are in at the moment, and will write them for as long as that’s what everyone wants.
5. What is your most popular fic and why do you think people like it so?
Honestly, I have absolutely no idea. I had one piece![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lt_wes_janson did that went up for a writing award one year, so I suppose that one would be the most popular. I believe that someone said that the dialog could have been taken directly from one of the books, and that it the highest compliment I have ever been given.
6. Forgot other people, what is the fanfic you've written that you're most proud of?
Okay, its questions like this that make me hate these kinds of things. I hate my own writing, and so I really don’t have anything that I would consider my favorite piece. There are some that I’m happier with than others, but that’s about the extent of it. There’s a reason I’m not one of the many people out there that are actually writing novels that they are trying to publish. I write because I like exploring the character and having fun with them, not because I think I have any actual talent in the writing department. I suppose that my favorite piece that I’ve done, just because of how different it was from everything else, was this prompt byon_holy_ground.
7. Do you find writing easy? Hard? What aspects do you struggle with?
Writing for me is hard. All aspects of it are hard. Finding the right words to go with the character I’m writing at the time is hard. Making sure that what I’m doing is in character is hard. Finding the ideas that go with the prompts I hard. Researching things I have no clue about is hard. Comedy is hard, philosophy is hard, religion is hard, death and destruction is hard, flirting is hard, cynicism is hard. Hell, the hardest thing of all is just posting things when I’m done and putting it out there for other people to see. I love it though. I love delving into the mind of a character and seeing what makes them who they are. That makes it worth everything.
8. Write a few sentences of your favorite pairing or character.
Well, I’m sure it comes as no surprise to anyone that my favorite is Wes. Why? He makes me laugh. He makes me cry. He makes me want to know who he is and why he does the things he does. He keeps me writing and he keeps me playing. His voice is the most ‘independent’ of all my muses, if that makes sense. He’s the little boy who got older, but refused to grow up. He is the easiest to write, and the hardest to let go.
9. Are there any fan fiction trends/cliches you hate?
Incest of any kind squicks me. Seriously.
Oh, and I don’t much like slash that’s just for slash’s sake. I know, you all are looking at me like I’m the biggest hypocrite in the known universe, but any muse that I slash with has a reason for being the way that they are, and it’s not because I think it’s OMGSOHOT! It’s because either the muse insisted, or because there are reasons in canon that support the idea. You may not agree with that assessment on my part, but I don’t much care.
10. Are you guilty of any of the trends you hate?
The slash thing I’m sure, at least according to some people.
11. What was the first fandom you wrote for? Do you still write for it?
Hell, I don’t remember. Probably Transformers or My Little Ponies or some shit like that back when I was a kid.
12. Name your OTPs and explain what it is about them you love to write.
lt_wes_janson/aoutlaw321 are just perfect as far as I’m concerned. They shouldn’t work together, but they do. I love them because they do normal, everyday stuff and they make it fun. They fight over stupid shit. They aren’t perfect, and they don’t try to be. They don’t get along with each other’s best friends. Wes and Aidan are absolutely, totally in love and they have been pretty much since they met. Five years, and the feelings between them haven’t faded at all. They are for me, what love should be and I love them for it.
on_holy_ground/ynez_castillo because they are seriously messed up love. The kind of relationship that should have never happened but somehow it did. Something that neither of them was really looking for at the time and it happened anyway. They fight. They don’t have a damn clue how to deal with each other, and still they keep trying. They are the OTP that I root for with all my heart.
idealized_sue/whatsnot_tolike are my new crack OTP! They are just so damn…perfect!!
13. What would you call your writing style?
Short, sweet, and to the point. I can’t write anything long to save my life. I admire those people that can churn out 1000 or more words for their prompts every week. I wish I could do that but my brain just does not function that way. Damn it.
Also? I’m something of a chameleon I think. When playing with others I tend to change my own style to reflect that of the people I’m playing with at the time.
14. Do you read other people's fan fiction? If so, what do you find yourself reading the most?
I read whatever comes up on my muses flists, and I try to read anything from fandoms I’m somewhat familiar with or have an interest in. If someone from a fandom I’m not familiar with talks to one of my muses, then I’ll read them and anything associated with that fandom so I have an idea who they are and where they come from. I’d like to read more, but I have limited time unfortunately.
15. Name one thing you'd love to write but have been too afraid or too shy to do.
I’d like to delve more into Wes’ dark side. I’d like to be able to write more on the soldering part of his life and be able to show how that affects him. However, I suck at such things, so I have been avoiding it like the proverbial plague.
16. Do you feel uncomfortable taking criticism? Or worse, do you have the dreaded bloated ego?
I’m not uncomfortable with taking criticism, but I do on occasion have a problem with taking it to heart too much and then letting it affect me more than it should. When it comes to writing, I have no ego, and tend to think I suck as it is. Therefore I tend to pull back when I should try harder to fix the problem.
17. When you write, is there anything that helps?
My muses all have their own playlists on my computer. Also, sometimes having a particular movie or kind of movie on the TV when I’m writing can help me with getting my mind shifted into the proper character.
18. What inspires you?
Anything and everything. Things I’ve read, listened to, watched, dreamed, and sometimes just plain old random thoughts. Bouncing ideas off of other people can also be a HUGE inspiration.
19. Lastly, how would you sum up your fan fiction experiences and you as a writer?
Writing has been a blast. I’ve made new friends and learned a lot about my own capabilities and where my strengths and weaknesses lie. Rping has been a rather mixed experience for me. On one hand I’ve played with some exceptional people and have enjoyed myself immensely. On the other hand, I’ve had some things happen that have made me pull back from it all and question my every move. I suppose like anything else, I just have to learn to take the bad with the good.
20. Tag some friends, because they'll hate you for it.
Yeah, I don’t think so.
Crossposted tolt_wes_janson and idealized_sue.
I generally go by the name Dia, which is pronounced just like ‘die’ by the way. Why, you ask? Well it’s because my online name is a shortened version of the word diamond from my username, and where I come from we don’t pronounce the ‘a’. I know, it’s fucked up, right? Welcome to my crazy world.
2. What got you into fan fiction (and/or adopting muses)?
One day I popped into a chatroom full of Methos lovers. Only these people liked to have the ROG come to visit the room on occasion and much fun was had by all. Eventually, there were just a few of us hanging around all the time and we all started bringing in our other favorite characters to play off each other. We kept adding more until we had a freaking stable full of the little bastards. It was cracktastic! Eventually I started dabbling in writing the occasional drabble and ficlet, and once I was introduced to the world of TM, I was a total goner.
3. What kind of fan fiction do you write?
Whatever strikes me fancy at the time? I mean I have a rather diverse set of muses, and they all do different kinds of stuff. That’s why I picked them up in the first place was so that I could work in different areas and not just do one kind of writing. I suppose I prefer the character driven stuff though, at least for the most part. I like knowing what makes them tick, and trying to get the people who read them to have some kind of response to them that makes the muse memorable. I want people to want to know more about them and to keep reading to find out. I want them to research the characters I play on their own. I want them to laugh, or cry, or shiver, or just stop and think. I want what I write to have some kind of impact, even if only for a moment. That’s the kind of stuff I try to write.
4. Do you write for the same pairings/characters?
I tend to be loyal to my muses. Once I pick one up, they tend to stick around. I’ve rarely had a voice grow quiet for long, although I have stopped playing on occasion when I’ve felt the need to let them rest or whatever. Some may not be as vocal or need the limelight like others and so they don’t write as much, but they are always there. As for pairings, I let the muse decide where that will go. I’ve never tried to force a muse into being with someone they didn’t want to be with, and I’ve never tried to keep them with someone if things aren’t working out. I love the pairings my muses are in at the moment, and will write them for as long as that’s what everyone wants.
5. What is your most popular fic and why do you think people like it so?
Honestly, I have absolutely no idea. I had one piece
lt_wes_janson did that went up for a writing award one year, so I suppose that one would be the most popular. I believe that someone said that the dialog could have been taken directly from one of the books, and that it the highest compliment I have ever been given.6. Forgot other people, what is the fanfic you've written that you're most proud of?
Okay, its questions like this that make me hate these kinds of things. I hate my own writing, and so I really don’t have anything that I would consider my favorite piece. There are some that I’m happier with than others, but that’s about the extent of it. There’s a reason I’m not one of the many people out there that are actually writing novels that they are trying to publish. I write because I like exploring the character and having fun with them, not because I think I have any actual talent in the writing department. I suppose that my favorite piece that I’ve done, just because of how different it was from everything else, was this prompt by
on_holy_ground.7. Do you find writing easy? Hard? What aspects do you struggle with?
Writing for me is hard. All aspects of it are hard. Finding the right words to go with the character I’m writing at the time is hard. Making sure that what I’m doing is in character is hard. Finding the ideas that go with the prompts I hard. Researching things I have no clue about is hard. Comedy is hard, philosophy is hard, religion is hard, death and destruction is hard, flirting is hard, cynicism is hard. Hell, the hardest thing of all is just posting things when I’m done and putting it out there for other people to see. I love it though. I love delving into the mind of a character and seeing what makes them who they are. That makes it worth everything.
8. Write a few sentences of your favorite pairing or character.
Well, I’m sure it comes as no surprise to anyone that my favorite is Wes. Why? He makes me laugh. He makes me cry. He makes me want to know who he is and why he does the things he does. He keeps me writing and he keeps me playing. His voice is the most ‘independent’ of all my muses, if that makes sense. He’s the little boy who got older, but refused to grow up. He is the easiest to write, and the hardest to let go.
9. Are there any fan fiction trends/cliches you hate?
Incest of any kind squicks me. Seriously.
Oh, and I don’t much like slash that’s just for slash’s sake. I know, you all are looking at me like I’m the biggest hypocrite in the known universe, but any muse that I slash with has a reason for being the way that they are, and it’s not because I think it’s OMGSOHOT! It’s because either the muse insisted, or because there are reasons in canon that support the idea. You may not agree with that assessment on my part, but I don’t much care.
10. Are you guilty of any of the trends you hate?
The slash thing I’m sure, at least according to some people.
11. What was the first fandom you wrote for? Do you still write for it?
Hell, I don’t remember. Probably Transformers or My Little Ponies or some shit like that back when I was a kid.
12. Name your OTPs and explain what it is about them you love to write.
lt_wes_janson/aoutlaw321 are just perfect as far as I’m concerned. They shouldn’t work together, but they do. I love them because they do normal, everyday stuff and they make it fun. They fight over stupid shit. They aren’t perfect, and they don’t try to be. They don’t get along with each other’s best friends. Wes and Aidan are absolutely, totally in love and they have been pretty much since they met. Five years, and the feelings between them haven’t faded at all. They are for me, what love should be and I love them for it.on_holy_ground/ynez_castillo because they are seriously messed up love. The kind of relationship that should have never happened but somehow it did. Something that neither of them was really looking for at the time and it happened anyway. They fight. They don’t have a damn clue how to deal with each other, and still they keep trying. They are the OTP that I root for with all my heart.idealized_sue/whatsnot_tolike are my new crack OTP! They are just so damn…perfect!!13. What would you call your writing style?
Short, sweet, and to the point. I can’t write anything long to save my life. I admire those people that can churn out 1000 or more words for their prompts every week. I wish I could do that but my brain just does not function that way. Damn it.
Also? I’m something of a chameleon I think. When playing with others I tend to change my own style to reflect that of the people I’m playing with at the time.
14. Do you read other people's fan fiction? If so, what do you find yourself reading the most?
I read whatever comes up on my muses flists, and I try to read anything from fandoms I’m somewhat familiar with or have an interest in. If someone from a fandom I’m not familiar with talks to one of my muses, then I’ll read them and anything associated with that fandom so I have an idea who they are and where they come from. I’d like to read more, but I have limited time unfortunately.
15. Name one thing you'd love to write but have been too afraid or too shy to do.
I’d like to delve more into Wes’ dark side. I’d like to be able to write more on the soldering part of his life and be able to show how that affects him. However, I suck at such things, so I have been avoiding it like the proverbial plague.
16. Do you feel uncomfortable taking criticism? Or worse, do you have the dreaded bloated ego?
I’m not uncomfortable with taking criticism, but I do on occasion have a problem with taking it to heart too much and then letting it affect me more than it should. When it comes to writing, I have no ego, and tend to think I suck as it is. Therefore I tend to pull back when I should try harder to fix the problem.
17. When you write, is there anything that helps?
My muses all have their own playlists on my computer. Also, sometimes having a particular movie or kind of movie on the TV when I’m writing can help me with getting my mind shifted into the proper character.
18. What inspires you?
Anything and everything. Things I’ve read, listened to, watched, dreamed, and sometimes just plain old random thoughts. Bouncing ideas off of other people can also be a HUGE inspiration.
19. Lastly, how would you sum up your fan fiction experiences and you as a writer?
Writing has been a blast. I’ve made new friends and learned a lot about my own capabilities and where my strengths and weaknesses lie. Rping has been a rather mixed experience for me. On one hand I’ve played with some exceptional people and have enjoyed myself immensely. On the other hand, I’ve had some things happen that have made me pull back from it all and question my every move. I suppose like anything else, I just have to learn to take the bad with the good.
20. Tag some friends, because they'll hate you for it.
Yeah, I don’t think so.
Crossposted to
lt_wes_janson and idealized_sue.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-02-12 12:47 pm (UTC)What's on the playlists?
no subject
Date: 2008-02-12 07:53 pm (UTC)Darius' playlist is full of classical and instrumental stuff. Some Mozart, Back, Beethoven and various other composers and then slower stuff from movie soundtracks. I should have some chant stuff on there probably but so far this has worked for him.
Wes' list is full of upbeat stuff. It's all over the spectrum of types of music although he prefers Blink 182, Smash Mouth, Counting Crows, and bands of that nature. There are a few darker songs for writing particular kinds of scenes but mostly happy, fun stuff.
K'tanya listens to bubble gum pop.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-14 04:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-14 01:08 pm (UTC)