Fic for Dad
When I was little, I wrote a lot of poetry. My dad loved my crappy poetry. He collected it and typed it up and printed it out so he could keep it. Later in my life, when I'd ask him what he wanted for Christmas or his birthday, he'd go all doe-eyed and say, "Could you write me a poem?"
I really don't like writing poetry anymore. I've tried, the last 3 or 4 Christmases, to write him poetry. It comes out terrible. And he can tell that I'm not really putting my all into it, is the problem. He thanks me for my extra-crappy poems anyway, and never says anything, but I can tell. Disappointing my Dad is beginning to grate on me. I've mentioned that I don't really write poetry anymore, but he really likes to have stuff that his kids make. My sister has taken up crafting/painting and is making him random-ass crafts that make Dad go all gooey and delighted. And she inspired me, because I realized I could make him something besides a poem. I could write him fic. Since, y'know, that is a thing that I actually enjoy doing. I told him I "write short stories" now, and at first he was all "hmmm," but once he had time to think about it (and possibly to get over his everlasting desire for my terrible poetry), he is Very Interested in my stories.
So. SO. I'm trying to write original fic for my dad for Christmas.
I've never written original fic before. I mean, not since the 3rd grade. I'm all, WHERE DO I START. I have to come up with CHARACTERS and SETTINGS, which I guess it's not that different from fanfic. But still. I dunno. So I'm brainstorming. If my Dad were to fill out a list of tropes that he likes for a fic exchange, it would probably look like this:
Favorite Tropes: Family dynamics!! father/daughter relationships omg best, sibling relationships, music! all the musics!!, singers and bands, holiday themes, kidfic, FLUFF, happiness, people being protective of their family, workplace relationships that are like family, history - especially Texas, inspirational stories of people making it big, schmoop, hurt/comfort, friendship
Favorite TV Show: NCIS
Favorite Musics: The Eagles and other 70s soft rock like Jackson Browne, but also random bluesy hipster people that he finds on YouTube
Favorite Food: Chocolate chip muffins.
My current plan is to write either a longish (15-20K) fic for him OR to write several shorter ones and then get them printed up in a book, cuz he'd like that a lot. And now I need to brainstorm fics. Going in a tropey direction will likely be good for me, because the trope will give me some structure while I figure out original characters. My first thoughts are bandfic, some kind of family X-mas thing, and maybe a workplace thing. I dunno. (Suggestions are super-duper welcome.) Should be a fun project, though!
I really don't like writing poetry anymore. I've tried, the last 3 or 4 Christmases, to write him poetry. It comes out terrible. And he can tell that I'm not really putting my all into it, is the problem. He thanks me for my extra-crappy poems anyway, and never says anything, but I can tell. Disappointing my Dad is beginning to grate on me. I've mentioned that I don't really write poetry anymore, but he really likes to have stuff that his kids make. My sister has taken up crafting/painting and is making him random-ass crafts that make Dad go all gooey and delighted. And she inspired me, because I realized I could make him something besides a poem. I could write him fic. Since, y'know, that is a thing that I actually enjoy doing. I told him I "write short stories" now, and at first he was all "hmmm," but once he had time to think about it (and possibly to get over his everlasting desire for my terrible poetry), he is Very Interested in my stories.
So. SO. I'm trying to write original fic for my dad for Christmas.
I've never written original fic before. I mean, not since the 3rd grade. I'm all, WHERE DO I START. I have to come up with CHARACTERS and SETTINGS, which I guess it's not that different from fanfic. But still. I dunno. So I'm brainstorming. If my Dad were to fill out a list of tropes that he likes for a fic exchange, it would probably look like this:
Favorite Tropes: Family dynamics!! father/daughter relationships omg best, sibling relationships, music! all the musics!!, singers and bands, holiday themes, kidfic, FLUFF, happiness, people being protective of their family, workplace relationships that are like family, history - especially Texas, inspirational stories of people making it big, schmoop, hurt/comfort, friendship
Favorite TV Show: NCIS
Favorite Musics: The Eagles and other 70s soft rock like Jackson Browne, but also random bluesy hipster people that he finds on YouTube
Favorite Food: Chocolate chip muffins.
My current plan is to write either a longish (15-20K) fic for him OR to write several shorter ones and then get them printed up in a book, cuz he'd like that a lot. And now I need to brainstorm fics. Going in a tropey direction will likely be good for me, because the trope will give me some structure while I figure out original characters. My first thoughts are bandfic, some kind of family X-mas thing, and maybe a workplace thing. I dunno. (Suggestions are super-duper welcome.) Should be a fun project, though!