I forgot how exhausting filling these things out can be. LOL
[via thtwzjustadream at 1_million_words]
01 Describe your comfort zone-a typical you-fic. Drabbles or doubles... Probably something comforting and fluffy. Maybe even a little cheese. Definitely like to add to the humor or ~reality~. Angst is draining and, Man... am I drained.
02 Is there a trope you've yet to try your hand at, but really want to? I don't know. Maybe? Tend to only go outside the box when a prompt calls for it, and very rarely return to it.
03 Is there a trope you wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole? I will never understand incest pairings. I also can't see the reality in switching genders, unless it's part of the story (aka magic is involved)
04 How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Care to share one of them? Oh God.. I wish they would stop forming. A few of the newer original-verse ones...
+ a set of brothers who have been in the system for most of their lives have just lost their foster father; their foster mother is trying to deal with his loss while taking care of them and it's starting to wear on her, while another boy joins the family (his guardian is suffering health issues and can't care for him) ; a new judge overturns the case keeping the boys in foster care and the foster mother runs the risk of losing them to a mother who doesn't really want them <--not sure what Steve's smoking, really. ANGST!!! And a lot of "pizza babies" (aka Bagel Bites)
+ a pair of women raising their triplet sons with their best guy friend (the dad) ; one's a commercial pilot and the other's mother shows up after almost 40 years of zero contact <--lots of fluff and angst, born from a discussion with bizarra, regarding an AU of two of our RP characters.
+ a father frustrated with his teenaged-twin daughters, who have full conversations with each other in another language (one speaks language A while the other speaks language B, and neither misses a beat) and he doesn't understand either of them <--this one's extremely new and mostly just one scene. Straight humor.
05 Share one of your strengths. Coming up with ideas
06 Share one of your weaknesses. Putting the ideas down on paper
07 Share a snippet from one of your favorite pieces of prose you've written and explain why you're proud of it. I'll have to think on that one...
08 Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you've written and explain why you're proud of it. This one, too. I can't say anything stands out enough for me to remember it.
09 Which fic has been the hardest to write? All of them Usually the ones where I don't have a character's voice. Firefly, especially.
10 Which fic has been the easiest to write? Probably the CaliTin series. Oddly enough. LOL It just kept coming out. There was nothing to force. Crossovers, too
11 Is writing your passion or just a fun hobby? Straight hobby. Though, a hobby I used to be more passionate about when things (ideas/output) came easier.
12 Is there an episode above all others that inspires you just a little bit more? Not sure I understand this question... but first thought would be Jackpot. Most of the CSI fic jumps off that episode or around the mood in it.
13 What's the best writing advice you've ever come across? Write what you know, I guess? Or maybe write what feels right? I should have a deeper answer for this one, probably.
14 What's the worst writing advice you've ever come across? I can't think of anything, at the moment. But, in my defense.. tax season. Brain = MUSH. But, really.. I don't exactly go looking for advice, so while I'm sure I've heard something... hell if I know what I heard. LOL
15 If you could choose one of your fics to be filmed, which would you choose? Gut reaction is tied at CaliTin or the newer crackverse that is Mary Poppins & Minvera McGonagall. Probably leaning more toward Mary&Minnie, because even I'm amazed that happened!!
16 If you only could write one pairing for the rest of your life, which pairing would it be? Wyatt & Adora. No question, hands down. Do not collect $200.
17 Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order? What is this "start to finish"?!? Scenes come when they come and I'm damn lucky if I can remember even half of what happened by the time I manage to write something down. 99% of my stuff gets plotted 20 ways from Sunday, but will never see the light of day, as plotted.
18 Do you use any tools, like worksheets or outlines? Nope. Lots of talking to myself and wishing I was able to write and drive; or write and shower; or write and sleep
19 Stephen King once said that his muse is a man who lives in the basement. Do you have a muse? Sweet Jesus, YES. His name is Steve. He's a masochist and has NO sense of timing and as much as he makes me crazy, I love him forever.
20 Describe your perfect writing conditions. Background noise - enough to be noise, but not enough to be distracting. Some of my best stuff (personal opinon) was written with NCIS marathoning in the background. Possibly a drink. A very large one. Also, many things were written on my cellphone, back when they were still making phones with physical keyboards. Touchscreen keyboards SUCK.
21 How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting? Two or three, to make sure I caught all the spelling errors, etc. And, inevitably, I have to make at least two edit sweeps after posting, because I missed something.
22 Choose a passage from one of your earlier fics and edit it into your current writing style. Not entirely sure I understand this one... far as I know, my writing style is the same. Well.. there's more angst than there used to be. But the style hasn't really changed.
23 If you were to revise one of your older fics from start to finish, which would it be and why? Shimmery, without a doubt. It was supposed to be a oneshot that ended right where it was supposed to. Only I let the "fame" go to my head and just started spitting out the rest because they asked for it. Don't get me wrong -- I loved the fangirls then and still do... but there's so much of that story that was blatant self-insert and just bad writing. Actually... that might be a candidate for the previous question...
24 Have you ever deleted one of your published fics? Yes, but that was only because at one point, I decided to seperate the fanfic from the original fic. So, I left the headers on the original posts, and then linked to the reposted entries in the new community.
25 What do you look for in a beta? I don't really, actually. I was always the beta for everyone else, and just red-penned everything of mine, myself. That said, there are times I would shoot something off to a friend for a look-see, to make sure it sounded right, etc.
26 Do you beta yourself? If so, what kind of beta are you? I haven't done it nearly as much as I used to, because the person I did it for stopped writing. She's back to writing, recently, but has been doing her own. My mother has a Journalism degree; my grandfather was an English major. I worked at a newspaper through high school and have edited more papers than I know what to do with. I automatically auto-correct anything I see; and used to read fanfic by downloading it from fanfic.net or YahooGroups and editing it as I read it. For no reason other than it was there and the errors made me go bonkers. To the second part, I'm a grammar Nazi, all the way. That's a name I picked up in college, BTW. But everyone's papers didn't come back with red marks and lower grades, did they? Unless it's blatantly obvious, I don't really do characterization, because everyone sees a character differently. Granted, if you say they have green eyes and they actually have brown, I'd make a comment. But if you see them a gruff and tumble, who am I to argue if that's what you were going for?
27 How do you feel about collaborations? Depends on what you're going for and how you're going about it. If it's crack, and both writers are on the same page.. glorious things can happen (like putting Nathan Fillion and Summer Glau onboard Serenity with Mal, River, and the crew) ; but the more writers stirring the pot can also have adverse effect (see the bandfic that never happened because I ended up being the only one ever writing anything). And then there's the chaos that ensues when you put me, gatechic, and bizarra together. In any combination, really... ♥♥
28 Share three of your favorite fic writers and why you like them so much. I don't really have any, to tell the truth. I barely read fic, and when I do, it's because I had something to do with it (prompting it, mostly). Probably not the best thing to admit, that.. being a one-sided fanficcer. :\
29 If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose? I don't have a clue. I'd have to think about a story that's stuck with my that strongly and isn't by gatechic, who lets me write in her 'verse already. New York abstains.
30 Do you accept prompts? I do. Not as often as I should, probably... but I don't watch nearly the amount of shows that seem to get the most traction. And the shows I do watch are just that - shows I watch. I couldn't write anything for Doctor Who if my life depended on it. But, yes - I take prompts. Might take me a little time (see the last five Kiss drabbles still waiting), but I'll get it done. So, y'know.. hit me. ♥
31 Do you take liberties with canon or are you very strict about your fic being canon compliant? I think that snort may have just pulled a muscle somewhere.. It depends on the 'verse, for one. Two, the story being told. If it's just a short what if-type scene, it just might flirt with OOC. OOC can happen. Even to Gibbs (see the snow angels) If it's a 'verse with more plot holes than Swiss cheese (see my beloved Tin Man) canon is just a trampoline to bounce anything and everything off of. Much as I hate that we have nothing on Adora Cain, the fact we have nothing is the BEST thing, for me. I can do with her WHATEVER I please and there's nothing to say it's completely OOC or otherwise. She can be whatever I want her to be (like a ballerina, a Tin Man, alive... a Longcoat)
32 How do you feel about smut? I don't really do anything with it. I don't mind reading it, to a point, as long as it's realistic. GO AHEAD AND MAKE ME BLUSH, BAD HORSE. I prefer to leave things to the vividest imaginations... much to the utter frustration of luxuria_oceanus
33 How do you feel about crack? Oh, the good old days. That's where most of the crossovers came from; and my beloved Caingerbread!! GROUP HUG, LADIES IN WAITING!!!
34 What are your thoughts on non-con and dub-con? Whatever gets you going....
35 Would you ever kill off a canon character? Been there, done that... ran off half the fandom In my defense, the challenge stated that one of the characters had to die. But, yeah.. Besides, canonically.. Wyatt ain't gonna live much longer past the fade-to-black, regardless of happy ending. Grief is too strong and his health was headed for a tailspin. :\
36 Which is your favorite site to post fic? I used to post to fanfic.net, back in the day (before chapters), because it was the place to do it. Also the occasional post to YahooGroups. But, once I got to LJ, it's only been on LJ. fanfic.net has since updated its posting procedures and I have zero patience in trying to learn it; Haven't seen the up-side of investigating Ao3; don't understand why anyone would post fanfic to Tumblr EVER. LJ is the place for me and that's where I'll stay. fanfic is at 12to32 ; original fic is at my_evanston ....I should probably get to some cross-posting. *shifty eyes*
37 Talk about your current wips. ALL OF THEM. Literally. Right down to the Van Helsing/Tin Man crossover I started posting in 2007. Yeah, it's still percolating. *facepalm*
38 Talk about a review that made your day. Every single one makes me feel warm and fuzzy. Seriously. I'm that easy. ♥
39 Do you ever get rude reviews and how do you deal with them? More on fanfic.net, than anything.. but I so rarely get so much as a ping from there, anymore. But, when I did get them, it was a distaste for the way something ended or the way something was said. Or that I had the GALL to write Grissom/Catherine when Grissom/Sara was the better pairing and canon and blah blah effin' BLAH. *eyeroll* OH! and then there was the schmuck on LJ who kept sending nasty replies to my GI Joe fic, which was clearly marked as being movieverse, about how it much the movie sucked, etc and I should read the comics because the relationship was much better, etc etc. I gave them a "Thanks for reading and I'll add that to my To Do list" and moved on with my day. After the next one, I just left the comment in place and deleted the notification, because, really: WTF?? I don't expect everyone to like what I write. If you don't like pairing XYZ, don't read it. But sure as shit don't read it and then bitch at me because it's not your ship. You knew what you were getting into.
40 Write an alternative ending to [insert fic title] (or just the summary of one). I'll have to get back to that one. Or, y'know... request one. :D
01 Describe your comfort zone-a typical you-fic. Drabbles or doubles... Probably something comforting and fluffy. Maybe even a little cheese. Definitely like to add to the humor or ~reality~. Angst is draining and, Man... am I drained.
02 Is there a trope you've yet to try your hand at, but really want to? I don't know. Maybe? Tend to only go outside the box when a prompt calls for it, and very rarely return to it.
03 Is there a trope you wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole? I will never understand incest pairings. I also can't see the reality in switching genders, unless it's part of the story (aka magic is involved)
04 How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Care to share one of them? Oh God.. I wish they would stop forming. A few of the newer original-verse ones...
+ a set of brothers who have been in the system for most of their lives have just lost their foster father; their foster mother is trying to deal with his loss while taking care of them and it's starting to wear on her, while another boy joins the family (his guardian is suffering health issues and can't care for him) ; a new judge overturns the case keeping the boys in foster care and the foster mother runs the risk of losing them to a mother who doesn't really want them <--not sure what Steve's smoking, really. ANGST!!! And a lot of "pizza babies" (aka Bagel Bites)
+ a pair of women raising their triplet sons with their best guy friend (the dad) ; one's a commercial pilot and the other's mother shows up after almost 40 years of zero contact <--lots of fluff and angst, born from a discussion with bizarra, regarding an AU of two of our RP characters.
+ a father frustrated with his teenaged-twin daughters, who have full conversations with each other in another language (one speaks language A while the other speaks language B, and neither misses a beat) and he doesn't understand either of them <--this one's extremely new and mostly just one scene. Straight humor.
05 Share one of your strengths. Coming up with ideas
06 Share one of your weaknesses. Putting the ideas down on paper
07 Share a snippet from one of your favorite pieces of prose you've written and explain why you're proud of it. I'll have to think on that one...
08 Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you've written and explain why you're proud of it. This one, too. I can't say anything stands out enough for me to remember it.
09 Which fic has been the hardest to write? All of them Usually the ones where I don't have a character's voice. Firefly, especially.
10 Which fic has been the easiest to write? Probably the CaliTin series. Oddly enough. LOL It just kept coming out. There was nothing to force. Crossovers, too
11 Is writing your passion or just a fun hobby? Straight hobby. Though, a hobby I used to be more passionate about when things (ideas/output) came easier.
12 Is there an episode above all others that inspires you just a little bit more? Not sure I understand this question... but first thought would be Jackpot. Most of the CSI fic jumps off that episode or around the mood in it.
13 What's the best writing advice you've ever come across? Write what you know, I guess? Or maybe write what feels right? I should have a deeper answer for this one, probably.
14 What's the worst writing advice you've ever come across? I can't think of anything, at the moment. But, in my defense.. tax season. Brain = MUSH. But, really.. I don't exactly go looking for advice, so while I'm sure I've heard something... hell if I know what I heard. LOL
15 If you could choose one of your fics to be filmed, which would you choose? Gut reaction is tied at CaliTin or the newer crackverse that is Mary Poppins & Minvera McGonagall. Probably leaning more toward Mary&Minnie, because even I'm amazed that happened!!
16 If you only could write one pairing for the rest of your life, which pairing would it be? Wyatt & Adora. No question, hands down. Do not collect $200.
17 Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order? What is this "start to finish"?!? Scenes come when they come and I'm damn lucky if I can remember even half of what happened by the time I manage to write something down. 99% of my stuff gets plotted 20 ways from Sunday, but will never see the light of day, as plotted.
18 Do you use any tools, like worksheets or outlines? Nope. Lots of talking to myself and wishing I was able to write and drive; or write and shower; or write and sleep
19 Stephen King once said that his muse is a man who lives in the basement. Do you have a muse? Sweet Jesus, YES. His name is Steve. He's a masochist and has NO sense of timing and as much as he makes me crazy, I love him forever.
20 Describe your perfect writing conditions. Background noise - enough to be noise, but not enough to be distracting. Some of my best stuff (personal opinon) was written with NCIS marathoning in the background. Possibly a drink. A very large one. Also, many things were written on my cellphone, back when they were still making phones with physical keyboards. Touchscreen keyboards SUCK.
21 How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting? Two or three, to make sure I caught all the spelling errors, etc. And, inevitably, I have to make at least two edit sweeps after posting, because I missed something.
22 Choose a passage from one of your earlier fics and edit it into your current writing style. Not entirely sure I understand this one... far as I know, my writing style is the same. Well.. there's more angst than there used to be. But the style hasn't really changed.
23 If you were to revise one of your older fics from start to finish, which would it be and why? Shimmery, without a doubt. It was supposed to be a oneshot that ended right where it was supposed to. Only I let the "fame" go to my head and just started spitting out the rest because they asked for it. Don't get me wrong -- I loved the fangirls then and still do... but there's so much of that story that was blatant self-insert and just bad writing. Actually... that might be a candidate for the previous question...
24 Have you ever deleted one of your published fics? Yes, but that was only because at one point, I decided to seperate the fanfic from the original fic. So, I left the headers on the original posts, and then linked to the reposted entries in the new community.
25 What do you look for in a beta? I don't really, actually. I was always the beta for everyone else, and just red-penned everything of mine, myself. That said, there are times I would shoot something off to a friend for a look-see, to make sure it sounded right, etc.
26 Do you beta yourself? If so, what kind of beta are you? I haven't done it nearly as much as I used to, because the person I did it for stopped writing. She's back to writing, recently, but has been doing her own. My mother has a Journalism degree; my grandfather was an English major. I worked at a newspaper through high school and have edited more papers than I know what to do with. I automatically auto-correct anything I see; and used to read fanfic by downloading it from fanfic.net or YahooGroups and editing it as I read it. For no reason other than it was there and the errors made me go bonkers. To the second part, I'm a grammar Nazi, all the way. That's a name I picked up in college, BTW. But everyone's papers didn't come back with red marks and lower grades, did they? Unless it's blatantly obvious, I don't really do characterization, because everyone sees a character differently. Granted, if you say they have green eyes and they actually have brown, I'd make a comment. But if you see them a gruff and tumble, who am I to argue if that's what you were going for?
27 How do you feel about collaborations? Depends on what you're going for and how you're going about it. If it's crack, and both writers are on the same page.. glorious things can happen (like putting Nathan Fillion and Summer Glau onboard Serenity with Mal, River, and the crew) ; but the more writers stirring the pot can also have adverse effect (see the bandfic that never happened because I ended up being the only one ever writing anything). And then there's the chaos that ensues when you put me, gatechic, and bizarra together. In any combination, really... ♥♥
28 Share three of your favorite fic writers and why you like them so much. I don't really have any, to tell the truth. I barely read fic, and when I do, it's because I had something to do with it (prompting it, mostly). Probably not the best thing to admit, that.. being a one-sided fanficcer. :\
29 If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose? I don't have a clue. I'd have to think about a story that's stuck with my that strongly and isn't by gatechic, who lets me write in her 'verse already. New York abstains.
30 Do you accept prompts? I do. Not as often as I should, probably... but I don't watch nearly the amount of shows that seem to get the most traction. And the shows I do watch are just that - shows I watch. I couldn't write anything for Doctor Who if my life depended on it. But, yes - I take prompts. Might take me a little time (see the last five Kiss drabbles still waiting), but I'll get it done. So, y'know.. hit me. ♥
31 Do you take liberties with canon or are you very strict about your fic being canon compliant? I think that snort may have just pulled a muscle somewhere.. It depends on the 'verse, for one. Two, the story being told. If it's just a short what if-type scene, it just might flirt with OOC. OOC can happen. Even to Gibbs (see the snow angels) If it's a 'verse with more plot holes than Swiss cheese (see my beloved Tin Man) canon is just a trampoline to bounce anything and everything off of. Much as I hate that we have nothing on Adora Cain, the fact we have nothing is the BEST thing, for me. I can do with her WHATEVER I please and there's nothing to say it's completely OOC or otherwise. She can be whatever I want her to be (like a ballerina, a Tin Man, alive... a Longcoat)
32 How do you feel about smut? I don't really do anything with it. I don't mind reading it, to a point, as long as it's realistic. GO AHEAD AND MAKE ME BLUSH, BAD HORSE. I prefer to leave things to the vividest imaginations... much to the utter frustration of luxuria_oceanus
33 How do you feel about crack? Oh, the good old days. That's where most of the crossovers came from; and my beloved Caingerbread!! GROUP HUG, LADIES IN WAITING!!!
34 What are your thoughts on non-con and dub-con? Whatever gets you going....
35 Would you ever kill off a canon character? Been there, done that... ran off half the fandom In my defense, the challenge stated that one of the characters had to die. But, yeah.. Besides, canonically.. Wyatt ain't gonna live much longer past the fade-to-black, regardless of happy ending. Grief is too strong and his health was headed for a tailspin. :\
36 Which is your favorite site to post fic? I used to post to fanfic.net, back in the day (before chapters), because it was the place to do it. Also the occasional post to YahooGroups. But, once I got to LJ, it's only been on LJ. fanfic.net has since updated its posting procedures and I have zero patience in trying to learn it; Haven't seen the up-side of investigating Ao3; don't understand why anyone would post fanfic to Tumblr EVER. LJ is the place for me and that's where I'll stay. fanfic is at 12to32 ; original fic is at my_evanston ....I should probably get to some cross-posting. *shifty eyes*
37 Talk about your current wips. ALL OF THEM. Literally. Right down to the Van Helsing/Tin Man crossover I started posting in 2007. Yeah, it's still percolating. *facepalm*
38 Talk about a review that made your day. Every single one makes me feel warm and fuzzy. Seriously. I'm that easy. ♥
39 Do you ever get rude reviews and how do you deal with them? More on fanfic.net, than anything.. but I so rarely get so much as a ping from there, anymore. But, when I did get them, it was a distaste for the way something ended or the way something was said. Or that I had the GALL to write Grissom/Catherine when Grissom/Sara was the better pairing and canon and blah blah effin' BLAH. *eyeroll* OH! and then there was the schmuck on LJ who kept sending nasty replies to my GI Joe fic, which was clearly marked as being movieverse, about how it much the movie sucked, etc and I should read the comics because the relationship was much better, etc etc. I gave them a "Thanks for reading and I'll add that to my To Do list" and moved on with my day. After the next one, I just left the comment in place and deleted the notification, because, really: WTF?? I don't expect everyone to like what I write. If you don't like pairing XYZ, don't read it. But sure as shit don't read it and then bitch at me because it's not your ship. You knew what you were getting into.
40 Write an alternative ending to [insert fic title] (or just the summary of one). I'll have to get back to that one. Or, y'know... request one. :D