Writing Meme
Everyone, I'm back from my hiatus and back at home after my year abroad. I have the summer off now which means more time for fandom and maybe more writing, depending on whether I start getting ideas again or not. I thought I should do a meme in this post to have something to talk about. I chose to steal a writing meme from rubyls in the hopes that it makes me feel like writing again. ^^
1. How about a brief introduction of yourself?
I'm Gina. I've been in fandom for... a year and a half? I think? My main writing fandom is Super Junior, but I also read SHINee, Beast, and a little bit of Big Bang, SNSD, and Infinite fic. I might venture out into the SHINee fandom for writing at some point.
2. And what got you into fanfiction to begin with?
Well, I used to write stories ever since elementary school, basically. My parents kept the first story I ever wrote (it was about two talking socks), spelling mistakes and all. What got me into fanfiction was Harry Potter, a fandom I'll always and forever love not only because of its diversity and potential but also because I learned most of my writing and translation skills there and met wonderful writers who taught me a lot. I then ventured into animanga fandom and now I'm here. :)
3. What kind of fanfiction do you like to write?
Um. I tend to avoid action, and I rarely write angst although I've been wanting to do it more. I tend to write stories with an emotional focus because I like delving into characters' minds and I like to challenge myself to find my personal version of them that is still compatible with what we see on screen. I actually want to write more bandfic but it seems I venture into AUs a lot.
4. Do you tend to write the same pairings/characters? Or are you a fandom whore?
I'm whoring my writing out to friends. Seriously. Even though Kyuhae is my Super Junior OTP, I've written pairings I usually wouldn't even have thought about just because I promised friends. I used to prefer having Kyuhyun in my main couples, but I've gotten a lot more comfortable with writing Donghae for some reason, and I've also written things with neither of them. Awkward things. At the moment I sort of want to diversify and get used to writing other characters as well.
5. What is your most popular fanfic and why do you think people like it so?
Is it embarrassing that I had to check? I think my most popular fic is my Kyumin parody Beyond Perfect. It's Kyumin, so there. And I had a nice, funny line I made into the link, that seemed to attract. ^^
6. Forget other people... what is the fanfic you've written that you're most proud of?
My multi-part Kyuhae Off the Record. Personally, I like Off the Record a lot because it's more serious (meaning, not crack/parody) but considering that it's a Kyuhae story, I'm satisfied with how people liked it. :) Actually, I'm also kind of proud of my Yemin Noona Complex that was written as a gift, with a pairing I don't ship in the slightest, but I still churned out 7k words and had fun writing them. ^^
7. Do you find writing easy? Hard? What are the most difficult aspects of writing?
It... depends? It's easy when I have a clear idea of what I want and a good grasp on my characters. It's hard when I'm struggling with either (or both). I think that writing good beginnings that draw the reader in can be one of the hardest aspects, and I also think that writing kissing scenes is damn hard.
8. Write a few sentences or so of your favorite pairing or character.
I like how they openly care for one another, even though Kyuhyun tends to be more reserved with his affections. They harmonize well and seem to bring out the best and warmest sides in the other. I love how they are comfortable and at ease around each other, no awkwardness. I love how Kyuhyun never says anything potentially hurtful to Donghae and how Donghae rushes to help whenever Kyuhyun needs anything. I love how they just seem to thoroughly enjoy being around each other.
9. Are there any fanfiction trends/cliches that you're sick of?
Too many. I'm sick of people writing Donghae as childish and without depth, and I'm sick of people writing Kyuhyun as thoughtlessly snarky. It's just 2D characterization that really annoys me when I'm supposed to take the story seriously. Also, I'm not a fan of the overly clichéd gender switches.
10. Are you guilty of any of these? Or have you committed other crimes?
Lol, I do hope I'm not. I did gender switch parodies; the Kyumin in which Kyuhyun is the girl for once but I tried to keep him intelligent, boyish, and witty all the same, and the Yemin in which Sungmin falls for Yesung noona and there's a lot of awkward crack going on. I hope that in both of these instances there were enough unsual elements to keep me from falling into the cliché gender switch trap.
11. What was the first fandom you wrote for? Do you continue to like/participate in it?
Harry Potter, see above. I don't write for it anymore, but I still talk to friends I made back in the day, and sometimes I like to go back to read stories, especially after I've seen one of the movies or reread one of the books. I'm still in love with the endless potential for expansion and creativity that universe has and I do admit I'm an avid Harry/Hermione shipper so sometimes I look around for good fic.
12. Name your OTPs or most frequently written pairings/characters and explain what it is about them that you love to write.
Well, isn't this getting repetitive... Anyways. My OTP is still Kyuhae (and I'm sure everyone know my SHINee OTP is Ontae), and the two of them are my most frequently written characters, either together or with other characters. I think I spent a lot more time thinking about Donghae because whenever I watched a video with him, an entirely new and seemingly incompatible aspect of his character popped up and I was back to square one with trying to make sense of him. I'm still not sure how successful I am with that, but he fascinates me to no end as a character because he's so human it hurts with all his contradictions and his strange mixture of maturity, energy, sadness, love, and ego and the way it all seems to fit so perfectly together at the same time. And I will stop now because this is turning into a Donghae manifesto, lol.
13. What would you call your writing "style"?
I have one? Okay, kidding. Over the years I've been trying hard to get a style that creates moods and characterization with attention to (realistic) details, something that focuses on reactions and gestures to make characters come alive. I'm still far from satisfied with it and when I'm writing crack or parody, that sort of gets pushed into the background, but it's still an ambition to finally get that style crafted in a way that it comes easily to me and get across to people what I want to say. Yeah.
14. Do you read other people's fanfics? If so, what do you find yourself reading the most?
Yup, more than is probably healthy. Well, of course I tend to read my OTP a lot, it's my OTP after all. Apart from that I usually read fics from authors I know, often no matter what the pairing or genre. Also, I tend to get curious when I read really good summaries and then I give things a try, totally ignoring pairings or genres as well. The best examples of that are a Shindong/Donghae smut fic that left me traumatized but it was so. good. and an Onew/Jessica fic that I'm still in love with to this day.
15. Name one thing you'd LOVE to write but haven't yet.
A really, really good mutli-chaptered Kyuhae fic. And an action fic, actually, because I've never done that and I'd like to see if I can do it or not.
16. Do you have trouble taking criticism? Or worse yet, do you have a really bloated ego?
... I don't think my ego is bloated (I tend to never be satisfied with what I write, EVER), but maybe I'm not the best judge of that? And hmm, well, I don't enjoy criticism, but I think I've learned a while back that criticism helps more to improve my writing that people praising the story, so I think I might be disappointed but I get over it very quickly and then go on to try and do better.
17. When you write is there anything that helps? Music? Quiet room?
Sometimes I start out writing a scene with music but sooner or later I always turn it off because it becomes hard for me to judge whether I'm taking enough care with getting the mood across or if I just think I'm doing fine because the music is making up for what I didn't put down. So yeah, in general I prefer a quiet room. Background noise makes it hard for me to get into a scene.
18. What inspires you?
Some prompts, sometimes music. Mostly life, I guess. Random things that I saw happening or random feelings I had that I'd like to process in fic.
19. Lastly, how would you sum up your fanfiction experiences and yourself as a writer?
... God. I don't know. I think I've grown as a writer since my first fanfic back in the day, but not nearly as much as I'd wish. Fanfiction is exciting and frustrating and I kind of wish there was more exchange between writers to inspire and help one another and improve the quality of fic in general. I've become a lot more interested in technique and style over time and I'd love it if there was more of a meta dialogue about that in fandom.
Conclusion: If spent all the time I write about writing actually writing fanfic, I'd be so much more productive.
Anyways. Have some of the nice Kyuhae moments that will never get old. ♥
The mic lending (Yesung is ignored) The daesang comfort hug Santa Donghae :)
No words needed and a little bit of molesting as a finishing touch
1. How about a brief introduction of yourself?
I'm Gina. I've been in fandom for... a year and a half? I think? My main writing fandom is Super Junior, but I also read SHINee, Beast, and a little bit of Big Bang, SNSD, and Infinite fic. I might venture out into the SHINee fandom for writing at some point.
2. And what got you into fanfiction to begin with?
Well, I used to write stories ever since elementary school, basically. My parents kept the first story I ever wrote (it was about two talking socks), spelling mistakes and all. What got me into fanfiction was Harry Potter, a fandom I'll always and forever love not only because of its diversity and potential but also because I learned most of my writing and translation skills there and met wonderful writers who taught me a lot. I then ventured into animanga fandom and now I'm here. :)
3. What kind of fanfiction do you like to write?
Um. I tend to avoid action, and I rarely write angst although I've been wanting to do it more. I tend to write stories with an emotional focus because I like delving into characters' minds and I like to challenge myself to find my personal version of them that is still compatible with what we see on screen. I actually want to write more bandfic but it seems I venture into AUs a lot.
4. Do you tend to write the same pairings/characters? Or are you a fandom whore?
I'm whoring my writing out to friends. Seriously. Even though Kyuhae is my Super Junior OTP, I've written pairings I usually wouldn't even have thought about just because I promised friends. I used to prefer having Kyuhyun in my main couples, but I've gotten a lot more comfortable with writing Donghae for some reason, and I've also written things with neither of them. Awkward things. At the moment I sort of want to diversify and get used to writing other characters as well.
5. What is your most popular fanfic and why do you think people like it so?
Is it embarrassing that I had to check? I think my most popular fic is my Kyumin parody Beyond Perfect. It's Kyumin, so there. And I had a nice, funny line I made into the link, that seemed to attract. ^^
6. Forget other people... what is the fanfic you've written that you're most proud of?
My multi-part Kyuhae Off the Record. Personally, I like Off the Record a lot because it's more serious (meaning, not crack/parody) but considering that it's a Kyuhae story, I'm satisfied with how people liked it. :) Actually, I'm also kind of proud of my Yemin Noona Complex that was written as a gift, with a pairing I don't ship in the slightest, but I still churned out 7k words and had fun writing them. ^^
7. Do you find writing easy? Hard? What are the most difficult aspects of writing?
It... depends? It's easy when I have a clear idea of what I want and a good grasp on my characters. It's hard when I'm struggling with either (or both). I think that writing good beginnings that draw the reader in can be one of the hardest aspects, and I also think that writing kissing scenes is damn hard.
8. Write a few sentences or so of your favorite pairing or character.
I like how they openly care for one another, even though Kyuhyun tends to be more reserved with his affections. They harmonize well and seem to bring out the best and warmest sides in the other. I love how they are comfortable and at ease around each other, no awkwardness. I love how Kyuhyun never says anything potentially hurtful to Donghae and how Donghae rushes to help whenever Kyuhyun needs anything. I love how they just seem to thoroughly enjoy being around each other.
9. Are there any fanfiction trends/cliches that you're sick of?
Too many. I'm sick of people writing Donghae as childish and without depth, and I'm sick of people writing Kyuhyun as thoughtlessly snarky. It's just 2D characterization that really annoys me when I'm supposed to take the story seriously. Also, I'm not a fan of the overly clichéd gender switches.
10. Are you guilty of any of these? Or have you committed other crimes?
Lol, I do hope I'm not. I did gender switch parodies; the Kyumin in which Kyuhyun is the girl for once but I tried to keep him intelligent, boyish, and witty all the same, and the Yemin in which Sungmin falls for Yesung noona and there's a lot of awkward crack going on. I hope that in both of these instances there were enough unsual elements to keep me from falling into the cliché gender switch trap.
11. What was the first fandom you wrote for? Do you continue to like/participate in it?
Harry Potter, see above. I don't write for it anymore, but I still talk to friends I made back in the day, and sometimes I like to go back to read stories, especially after I've seen one of the movies or reread one of the books. I'm still in love with the endless potential for expansion and creativity that universe has and I do admit I'm an avid Harry/Hermione shipper so sometimes I look around for good fic.
12. Name your OTPs or most frequently written pairings/characters and explain what it is about them that you love to write.
Well, isn't this getting repetitive... Anyways. My OTP is still Kyuhae (and I'm sure everyone know my SHINee OTP is Ontae), and the two of them are my most frequently written characters, either together or with other characters. I think I spent a lot more time thinking about Donghae because whenever I watched a video with him, an entirely new and seemingly incompatible aspect of his character popped up and I was back to square one with trying to make sense of him. I'm still not sure how successful I am with that, but he fascinates me to no end as a character because he's so human it hurts with all his contradictions and his strange mixture of maturity, energy, sadness, love, and ego and the way it all seems to fit so perfectly together at the same time. And I will stop now because this is turning into a Donghae manifesto, lol.
13. What would you call your writing "style"?
I have one? Okay, kidding. Over the years I've been trying hard to get a style that creates moods and characterization with attention to (realistic) details, something that focuses on reactions and gestures to make characters come alive. I'm still far from satisfied with it and when I'm writing crack or parody, that sort of gets pushed into the background, but it's still an ambition to finally get that style crafted in a way that it comes easily to me and get across to people what I want to say. Yeah.
14. Do you read other people's fanfics? If so, what do you find yourself reading the most?
Yup, more than is probably healthy. Well, of course I tend to read my OTP a lot, it's my OTP after all. Apart from that I usually read fics from authors I know, often no matter what the pairing or genre. Also, I tend to get curious when I read really good summaries and then I give things a try, totally ignoring pairings or genres as well. The best examples of that are a Shindong/Donghae smut fic that left me traumatized but it was so. good. and an Onew/Jessica fic that I'm still in love with to this day.
15. Name one thing you'd LOVE to write but haven't yet.
A really, really good mutli-chaptered Kyuhae fic. And an action fic, actually, because I've never done that and I'd like to see if I can do it or not.
16. Do you have trouble taking criticism? Or worse yet, do you have a really bloated ego?
... I don't think my ego is bloated (I tend to never be satisfied with what I write, EVER), but maybe I'm not the best judge of that? And hmm, well, I don't enjoy criticism, but I think I've learned a while back that criticism helps more to improve my writing that people praising the story, so I think I might be disappointed but I get over it very quickly and then go on to try and do better.
17. When you write is there anything that helps? Music? Quiet room?
Sometimes I start out writing a scene with music but sooner or later I always turn it off because it becomes hard for me to judge whether I'm taking enough care with getting the mood across or if I just think I'm doing fine because the music is making up for what I didn't put down. So yeah, in general I prefer a quiet room. Background noise makes it hard for me to get into a scene.
18. What inspires you?
Some prompts, sometimes music. Mostly life, I guess. Random things that I saw happening or random feelings I had that I'd like to process in fic.
19. Lastly, how would you sum up your fanfiction experiences and yourself as a writer?
... God. I don't know. I think I've grown as a writer since my first fanfic back in the day, but not nearly as much as I'd wish. Fanfiction is exciting and frustrating and I kind of wish there was more exchange between writers to inspire and help one another and improve the quality of fic in general. I've become a lot more interested in technique and style over time and I'd love it if there was more of a meta dialogue about that in fandom.
Conclusion: If spent all the time I write about writing actually writing fanfic, I'd be so much more productive.
Anyways. Have some of the nice Kyuhae moments that will never get old. ♥
The mic lending (Yesung is ignored) The daesang comfort hug Santa Donghae :)
No words needed and a little bit of molesting as a finishing touch