meme time, since I'm the last person on the planet to jump on the bandwagon

[cynthia_arrow]

I'll do the quesitons one later, when I've got more time. For now, here's one of those that's been floating about lately...

Ask me anything you want about any of my stories: how I thought of the idea, what I did to write it, what I was thinking when I wrote it, what I feel about it now, what I wish I'd done differently, etc.I do love to talk

Comments

[eponine119]

You're not afraid to write a variety of pairings and characters. Why do you think that is? Is how you approach writing those stories different from how you approach more standard pairings?

Also, the other day you posted about how various characters react to each other when you write them. Do you think that stems from the way you fundamentally see those characters, or is it just something that happens? (Why do you think your Desmond insists on being straight, for example? Is there something inherent in Desmond, or is it just how you percieve him?)

Is there anything you feel like you don't write well that you wish you did?

[cynthia_arrow]

My writing of forty million pairings is mostly a sort of ADD. I get bogged down with Jack/Sawyer all the time. New, shiny things interest me. As nice as it can be to explore J/S even deeper (and they're still my OTP), it's almost more fun for me to work on a dynamic I'm just puzzling out. But in my head the approach isn't much different. It's only maybe harder to write weird pairings because I have to prove them more, because there's not a dynamic already burned into people's brains. And some pairings (Sawyer/Sun, for instance) are implausible to start with. They take more care to build. But the basic strategy is the same

[gemjam]

This is such a cool meme, I so wanna play, when I stop having such a one-track brain I think I'll have to put it up in my journal.

I've been kind of out of the loop lately but I know you've written a couple of AU fics (that I will read) with Sawyer as a bartender, and there's also the fantastic 'Natural' AU that you wrote that I love so much. So, my question, why write AU? What about it is appealing to you? Why play with the characters in such a different setting to where you'd normally find them, why play with backstories, why, why why? I know I write AU too but I want to know why you decide to go that route sometimes. Also, where does the idea come from for the scenarios? Do you get the idea first, like, 'I'm gonna make Sawyer a bartender, that'll be fun', or are there certain emotions and interactions that you want to play with that just don't fit in the way things are, or is it something else entirely, or perhaps a mixture of things?

Also, just for fun, and because I'm greedy, what's the fic that you're most proud of and why?

[cynthia_arrow]

There's nothing particularly artistic about my choices of AU. I often write them because I'm selfish and I really, really want to imagine Sawyer as a professor or I need to see the boys playing pool and drinking. It'll start with one character, say Musician!Jack in 'Foreplay,' and I'll have to give him a world to be in. I don't know why they always involve a bar

[zelda_zee]

Hmm. Megan asked the question I was going to, about the variety of pairings.

So I'll ask you to elaborate on something you said in your response to her, about Jack being you, in some ways. Please elucidate.

I'm interested, b/c I think the same is true for me.

Also, who is your favorite character to write, and is s/he different from your favorite character on the show?

I think you write great, inventive smut. There's often something unexpected in your sex scenes that is a pleasant surprise for the reader. Do you find smut easy to write? Do you have any issues/difficulties specific to that aspect of your writing?

And finally, how do you write dialogue? Do you just hear it in your head, or is there more to it? Your dialogue kills me, I'm interested in how you make it so original and real.

Lots of questions. I'm a curious girl, and writing is my favorite subject.

[cynthia_arrow]

So I'll ask you to elaborate on something you said in your response to her, about Jack being you, in some ways. Please elucidate.

I'm interested, b/c I think the same is true for me.You're Jack, too

[cynthia_arrow]

Dialogue is one of the only things I won't try to deny doing well...most of the time. When I'm constructing the exchange, I hear their voices in my head. If I can't, it doesn't work. In fact, I usually need to be able to speak like the character to get the voice right. If I can't, I avoid them. That's why--among other reasons--I rarely write Claire or Charlie, because I can't speak like them. Although I can at least hear Charlie. I sometimes struggle with Sayid, especially when I paired him with Eko, but I can usually approximate his speech, too. Desmond is proving difficult, because I CANNOT do a scottish accent, so I have to depend on hearing him in my head, faintly, and it's hard. But for Desmond, I'll do anything

[themoononastick]

People have already asked the questions I was going to ask so I am going to ask you to elaborate on one of your answers instead.

I wish I could write a scottish accent. And British.

What is it about Scottish and English accents that puts you off writing them? And why do you think it would be (or is) so hard to do?

I ask as you have very successfully written both Eko and Sayid both of whom are not American and both of whom have very specific speech patterns that, for me at least, can be extremely difficult to get right - especially Eko. Plus I often see people saying that they are worried or put off by writing British characters and I am kind of fascinated by it as I have never felt the same way about writing US characters or accents.

[cynthia_arrow]

It's mostly a terror of the slang. I don't know what words you lovely people over there use in leiu of others I might. A potential faux pas I live in fear of could be something as simple as using a word that is fine enough but probably not as good as this other word I don't know. Especially the cursing. I sometimes feel uneasy even using fuck, even though I know fuck is a word not bound to my side of the Atlantic

[elise_509]

I know you like Desmond a lot. Besides him being terribly attractive, what is it about his character that draws you in? What aspects of his personality make him so interesting for you?

How much of yourself do you think you put into your fics? Like me, you said up above that you see yourself in Jack and for a lot of the same reasons that I do. So when you write Jack, do you ever feel like you're working out some of your own issues as well? Do you utlize your own fears and worries to try to give him additional weight or understand him better, or do you think you keep your own life out of it? And do you think that means you write Jack better than other characters, or do you feel even more worried about criticism while writing him because you're revealing yourself as well?

[cynthia_arrow]

Ah, Desmond... *sigh

[elise_509]

those were great answers!

You don't know how hard it was for me when Allie went anti-Jack after the finale.

hee...I don't? The founder of JPORF? The craziest Jack lover of them all? I was hurting, man. I just hid it down deep and reminded myself everyone's entitled to their opinion because I love Allie mucho. But I cried inwardly.

I've never cared much about revealing myself in my writing. It happens whether I want it to or not.

yeah...it does just happen, doesn't it? it's weird.