Fandom Writing Meme

[alexisjane]

I've seen this everywhere but milly_gal asked for it so... : ) x

1. How did you first get into writing fanfic, and what was the first fandom you wrote for?
   I first found my way to the SPN Family and fanfic on LiveJournal last year. I read for a few months before writing something  and posting it with a huge amount of support from ash_carpenter and haven't stopped since : )

1. Name the fandoms you've written in, and how much you've written in that fandom, and if you still write in it.
   SPN and J2...that's it. I'm tempted by The Blacklist and BtVS but not so much that I've written anything yet.


2. For each of the fandoms from question two, what were your favorite characters to write?
   Dean and Sam...Benny...John too...Bobby is kinda fun.  And the J's I guess. Oh and Ty...I love Ty : ) although I tend to think of them as acting out roles rather than being themselves.


3. Do you have a "muse" character, that speaks to you more than others, or that 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?
   No. I find I slip easily into Dean's headspace so I tend to write from his perspective mostly.


4. 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?
   Oh god...that fucking horrible thing I wrote with an unspecified character that in hindsight was so obviously Crowley but that neither me or Dean wanted to be there. That was awful. I was fighting my muse at the time. I've learnt to just do what she says since and then nobody gets hurt!


5. When you write, do you prefer writing male or female characters?
   Male. Although...one of my favourite characters is Ripley from Alien. The character was originally conceived as a man but ultimately played by a woman. I try to do that esp. with OC's. I try to write people...not gender stereotypes.


6. Have you ever had a fic change your opinion of a character? No, I don't think so.


7. Do you write OCs? And if so, what do you do to make certain they're not Mary Sues, and if not, explain your thoughts on OCs.
   Yes, I do. People are basically the same shape and have a personality...it's the flaws that differentiate us from each other so I try and look at that. No one is completely bad or good, we're all on a scale and I think trying to create a believable character comes from that. Also, I try and pick a thing...Rusty in Ocean's Eleven eats all the time (god that's so sexy!), I remember another actor talking about only really feeling like his character when he put on his watch...I try and pick a physical mannerism or 'thing' to anchor the character in my head and in the readers hopefully too.


8. Pairings - For each of the fandoms from question two, what are your three favorite pairings to write?
   Sam/Dean
   Dean/John
   Dean/Benny
   Jensen/Jared
   Ty/Traci
   Oh in the next one there's going to be some Chad and Tom...which I'm so looking forward to : ) The characters are only half formed in my head but I think it's going to be epic : )


9. 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?
   No. Strictly staying in the comfort zone...writing is hard enough with out that. I write what my muse tells me to write otherwise see question 5.


10. Genre - do you prefer certain genres of fic when you're writing? What kind do you tend to write most?
    Again, I write what my muse tells me to write...which is usually angst. I try my best to be amusing and dramatic but angst seems to be the thing.


11. Have you ever attempted an "adaptation" fic of a favorite book or movie but set in a different fandom?
    Thought about it a lot but no.


12. Do you prefer canon or fanon when you write? Has writing fanfic for a fandom changed the way you see some or even all of the original source material?
    I think it's so easy to get caught up in fanon and lose sight of what is actually in the show and the script. I do like some of the fanon tropes and it's all fictional so I use whatever is going to work for the particular story I'm writing..


13. Ratings - how high are you comfortable with going? Have you ever written higher? If you're comfortable with NC-17, have you ever been shocked by finding that the story you're writing is G-rated instead?
    I automatically write NC-17 in my rating...coz duh. But with the summergen...god that was hard. I think I sent it to my beta with "And then they all fucked each other" tagged on to the end of it as it just felt weird not to go there!


14. Warnings - What do you feel it most important to warn for, and what's the strangest thing you've warned for in a fic?
    non-con, main character death if it's not canon, if there's underage I always make the age explicit in the warnings. i tend to write stuff that I wouldn't necessarily read and I know how important warnings are to me. The strangest thing...angst maybe. Back at the start someone complained that I hadn't warned for it which confused the hell out of me but I still always put it in (even though it's kinda the basis of fiction, n'est pas?)...schmorror! I had to come up with a new word for one fic, so maybe that.


15. Summaries - Do you like them or hate them? How do you come up with them, if you use them?
    I used to hate them but I've found I rely on them so much when I'm looking for stuff to read, I've started to include them.


16. Titles - Are they the bane of your existence, or the easiest part of the fic? Also, if you do chaptered fic, do you give each chapter a title, or not?
    Titles are either obvious and just pop in my head...or I just pick a song lyric from whatever I'm listening to. Chapter titles are a bit like names on houses...doesn't work for me. Numbers do just fine.


17. Where do you get the most inspiration for your fics (aka "bunnies") from?
    The Stephen King "what if...?" principle. So basically everywhere.


18. When you have bunnies, do you sit down and start writing right away, or do you write down the idea for further use?
    The bunny arrives and then we snuggle for a really long time. It kinda feels like the whole story is in my head but its out of focus. Gradually I can see more and more pieces of it until I can write out a vague outline, a few words to describe a 250 word section. And then as I write, it appears.


19. Do you ever get bunnied from other people's stories or art in the same fandom?
    Yup. My first story happened like that.


20. 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?
    My headcanon verse is an ongoing thing. I'm writing one right now for the Minibang. Also my BB this year...I had a few timestamps planned which ended up blurring together so I'm going to write another full story for that. Actually I wrote the outline a  few weeks ago and fuck me...I think there maybe a third : / I love sequels and timestamps. I'm always bugging people for them. If I love someones writing and their characters, I find it really hard to let go.


21. Have you ever participated in a fest or a Big Bang? If so, write about your favorite experience in relation to one. If not, are there any you've thought about doing? And if not, why not?
    I only started writing last October so I wasn't going to do the BB as it was my first year...and then I did it! My favorite experience I think, other that actually finishing the thing, was giving it to someone to have a final read through. I was dead nervous as some of the themes in it are sensitive. Their response had me in floods of tears. They were so supportive and completely took away my fear. They had every reason to hate it but they didn't and...I don't know...it just meant so much. It made me feel like a writer.


22. When you post, where do you post to? Just your journal? Just an archive? Your own personal site?
    My journal, AO3, and then to a comm or two that might be appropriate.


23. Betaing - How many betas do you like to use to make sure there aren't any major flaws in your fic? Do you have a Beta horror story or dream story?
    I didn't really use a regular one before the BB...I had three alphas, three betas and two double-checkers for that...I'm so greedy! I don't worry too much about it as I always think of everything as a work in progress (otherwise I'd never post anything!)  Dream story - ephermeralk's beta notes. She had me roaring with laughter! She is just so funny, even when she's laughing in my face about something I screwed up. She made the whole thing much less scary. Thank you Darlin' : ) x


24. Music - Do you listen to music while you write? Do you make playlists to get into a certain "mood" to write your fic? Do you need noise in general? Or do you need it completely quiet?
    Yes. sometimes I can't write without it. Sometimes it's just one song on repeat...which is probably not good for my brain. I can't listen to Gods and Monsters without slipping back into that headspace, which if you've read the fic you'll know it's not the nicest place to be. Although I have two more installments planned for that so it will be useful then.


25. What is the oddest (or funnest) thing you've had to research for a fic?
    I don't really research : / I spent a lot of time virtually driving from Lubbock TX to Austin TX on Google street view for my BB though. That was weird.


26. Where is your favorite place to write, and do you write by hand or on the computer?
    Depends. Notes and outline are by hand on little bits of card. Usually I write on my computer or more recently on my ipad. For my BB, I'd wrote at home and then went to the pub on a lunchtime to do final edits.


27. Have you ever collaborated with anyone else, whether writing together, or having an artist work on a piece about your fic?
    I did a fictag thing with skeletncloset which was cool. I've just finished recording the PodTogether Challenge thing with dapatty which was a blast! I'm hoping we can do some more together as she was such fun to work with.


28. What is your current project or projects?
    Currently working on my Sam and Dean OTP MiniBang. Teenchesters! I have a ton of things I need to get to though. Lots of podfics and art and quite a few stories too. I've got a long fic planned for tricycleman which I really want to devote some time to soon as it's picking at my brain something fierce.


29. Do you have a favorite fic you've written? What makes it your favorite? And don't forget to give us a link!
    Oh man...Sophie's Choice or what. I think my favourite fic has to be I Stumble Forward. It's the most complete thing I've written. It feels like it still needs a polish but judging by people's reactions, I think it does all the things I wanted it to do. Also, I was never convinced I had enough inside me to write a whole novel. I wasn't sure I was going to make the 20k minimum when I started this and it came out at 61k. And I still like the story after spending all that time on it : )
    But I think my favourite thing I have written is The Grave. I don't really know anything about poetry but I really love imagery and unnecessarily big words. And the chances of me getting to write,  

"...the membrane ripped and bleeding reveals the oubliette behind the velvet lining..." in a fic are pretty slim : )

Comments

[firesign10.livejournal.com]

Fabulous!! I'm loving reading these :-)

[ephermeralk.livejournal.com]

Hahah. You're welcome. I'm just glad you have the same-ish sense of humor that I do. So that we can both roll on the floor laughing together :D

and hah! I liked Crowley in that fic. I really, really did :)

[milly-gal.livejournal.com]

Fantastic, thank you ♥ for doing this, I LOVE seeing inside other people's heads when it comes to fic and what they feel, how they process etc and this was such an interesting read :D

I'm planning on checking out the tricycleman thingy as well, been asked to join too, so yeah :)

Thanks for taking the tun hun x