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Private storyline with Snape anyone?
I hope I am allowed to post this here as I've been looking for quite some time and would like to find a like-minded writer.
With the kids heading back to school, I always get bitten by the 'creativity bug'. I enjoy writing/portraying the character of Severus Snape in private story lines, or playing other characters with/against a good Severus, but I always have difficulty in finding a writing partner with whom I mesh. I've been longing to try my hand at a Severus/Hermione story. I thought I might try asking this group. :)
Cross-posted everywhere.
I would like to write a Severus/Hermione storyline, preferably sometime post DH or at least post HBP with an ignoring of inconvenient deaths and so on. I prefer to write Severus but can and will write Hermione against a strong Severus.
Basic characteristics of myself and what I hope to find in a writing partner are here:
Part of my difficulty in finding a suitable writing partner is definitely my hopes/dreams/expectations of said partner. I write in fandom because I want to improve and expand my writing capability with the lofty goal of someday getting the courage to write something 'for real'. With that goal in mind, I dislike writing with someone with a lackadaisical view of the process. Though I like to write Snape, I'm rather Hermione-ish in my enjoyment of organization and lists, at least in this area. Here, then, is my 'wish list' for/from a fellow writing partner.
1. Adult age. Absolute requirement. 25+ and in a relatively stable life-situation is preferred. Not that I haven't written with brilliantly creative 18-20 year-olds, but I enjoy writing the NC-17 stuff when it gets to that point, and as I'm well into my 40's myself, I can't stomach the idea of 'corrupting' the youth. :p In truth, I also find that anyone younger than mid-20's just has too much excitement, social commitments and drama in his/her life to really stick to a writing relationship for more than a few weeks at best, past the first thread at worst!
If you are about to graduate college, start a brand new job, get married, have a new baby, etc., you are probably too busy to write with me. :)
2. Serious writers only, please. I am not a professional and I suffer a homicidal abuse of commas, not to mention too many run-on sentences. This is part of the 'working on getting better' process I've mentioned. But no character of mine would ever "tremble in the Dark Lord's presents" or tell your character that, "your an idiot" or that she "should of done" her homework or that, "for all intensive purposes" the project is a failure.
*headdesk* Yes. I have suffered all of those and more.
Proper spelling, grammar and punctuation is simply crucial. Which is not to claim perfection on my part or to nit-pick typos, because we all do them. I know I occasionally type through an incorrect "it's" and so on. I'm not mean. But I can't drag myself out of the proverbial muck if I'm writing with someone who doesn't even know the muck is there. haha!
2a. Creative Writers Wanted!! Be willing to share responsibility for plot and story development! I promise not to make you push/pull/drag the story along. Please offer me the same courtesy. We all get stuck for direction now and then. That's why it's more fun (to me) to write with a partner than just slog through writing fanfiction on my own. Two heads are better than one and so on. But if I end up coming up with all the plot and drama on my own, it's too much work to be enjoyable.
2b. Love and understand your character! Writing with a partner means that my character might not always react to a situation in the way that you thought/were expecting. If you have a deep love and understanding of your character, the response and flow will continue even if the path is a tangent to what you had expected. The randomness of it all with the right partner is exhilarating.
2c. Be able/willing to write NC-17 material if/when the character relationship progression reaches that point. That should never be the goal of writing (unless an agreed upon PWP), but it is definitely part of the fun for me. I don't want to write with someone who is only comfortable with 'fade to black' scenarios.
3. Life happens. Be available but be understanding. Nudge but don't nag. The fine line of activity vs inactivity and eagerness vs neediness/nagging has killed more than one good writing partnership - and I'm sorry to say I've been on both sides. I have four kids, three of whom are still at home and all of whom are terribly active in sports and school and such. I get that there are days when you might be too busy/too tired to write. Please accept and understand the same from me. Eighty percent of the time, I'm home and able to respond at least once and often several times in an evening - Central Standard Time Zone. I do not expect everyone to have as much time as myself. To keep interest and creativity flowing, it seems to require a minimum of 3-5 responses per week to keep a line/writing relationship alive. If your timezone/time availability do not allow that, please pass this request by.
I've occasionally - rarely - encountered someone with MORE writing time than myself. By all means, let me know when you are available and if my own life matches that extra time, you will definitely see me. However, I had one instance when an enthusiastic writer actually badgered me to the point that I felt stalked. Not cool. "Where are you, what time will you be on tomorrow, why weren't you around earlier today" are stalker-ish questions. I promise I will tell you if I'm going to be gone for an extended period of time. "Going out of town for kid stuff, afk until Monday" and such. If I have not given that sort of notice and you've waited more than 48 hours for a response from me, the chances are good that I somehow missed your tag and a friendly poke - "did you get my reply" is more than appropriate and welcome.
4. Writing venue - I enjoy using Insane Journal for the icons and just familiarity with it. I use custom-locked threads, and though I've often thought that if a storyline worked out well, it might be fun to edit/polish/post it as a co-written fanfic, I've never followed through with the work of that. I'm still willing if that turns out to be a direction my co-writer wishes to go. I've also used simple email threads as well as Google docs and various 'message board' formats. I'm quite flexible on options. I will not use or write in any "instant messenger" tools. My ancient computer can't handle them and they end up being too 'chatty' for my style of writing.
I know this all seems so picky, but I've had so many false starts and failed attempts that it saves time to be particular from the start. My good, strong writing relationships have lasted literally for years! Marriage, babies, job changes, a fading of interest in the fandom and such have left me once again looking for a partner or two.
If I haven't scared you off and you'd like to chat about possibly writing together, please contact me here or at my 'writing' email of shant.writes (at) gmail (dot) com.
Cheers!
With the kids heading back to school, I always get bitten by the 'creativity bug'. I enjoy writing/portraying the character of Severus Snape in private story lines, or playing other characters with/against a good Severus, but I always have difficulty in finding a writing partner with whom I mesh. I've been longing to try my hand at a Severus/Hermione story. I thought I might try asking this group. :)
Cross-posted everywhere.
I would like to write a Severus/Hermione storyline, preferably sometime post DH or at least post HBP with an ignoring of inconvenient deaths and so on. I prefer to write Severus but can and will write Hermione against a strong Severus.
Basic characteristics of myself and what I hope to find in a writing partner are here:
Part of my difficulty in finding a suitable writing partner is definitely my hopes/dreams/expectations of said partner. I write in fandom because I want to improve and expand my writing capability with the lofty goal of someday getting the courage to write something 'for real'. With that goal in mind, I dislike writing with someone with a lackadaisical view of the process. Though I like to write Snape, I'm rather Hermione-ish in my enjoyment of organization and lists, at least in this area. Here, then, is my 'wish list' for/from a fellow writing partner.
1. Adult age. Absolute requirement. 25+ and in a relatively stable life-situation is preferred. Not that I haven't written with brilliantly creative 18-20 year-olds, but I enjoy writing the NC-17 stuff when it gets to that point, and as I'm well into my 40's myself, I can't stomach the idea of 'corrupting' the youth. :p In truth, I also find that anyone younger than mid-20's just has too much excitement, social commitments and drama in his/her life to really stick to a writing relationship for more than a few weeks at best, past the first thread at worst!
If you are about to graduate college, start a brand new job, get married, have a new baby, etc., you are probably too busy to write with me. :)
2. Serious writers only, please. I am not a professional and I suffer a homicidal abuse of commas, not to mention too many run-on sentences. This is part of the 'working on getting better' process I've mentioned. But no character of mine would ever "tremble in the Dark Lord's presents" or tell your character that, "your an idiot" or that she "should of done" her homework or that, "for all intensive purposes" the project is a failure.
*headdesk* Yes. I have suffered all of those and more.
Proper spelling, grammar and punctuation is simply crucial. Which is not to claim perfection on my part or to nit-pick typos, because we all do them. I know I occasionally type through an incorrect "it's" and so on. I'm not mean. But I can't drag myself out of the proverbial muck if I'm writing with someone who doesn't even know the muck is there. haha!
2a. Creative Writers Wanted!! Be willing to share responsibility for plot and story development! I promise not to make you push/pull/drag the story along. Please offer me the same courtesy. We all get stuck for direction now and then. That's why it's more fun (to me) to write with a partner than just slog through writing fanfiction on my own. Two heads are better than one and so on. But if I end up coming up with all the plot and drama on my own, it's too much work to be enjoyable.
2b. Love and understand your character! Writing with a partner means that my character might not always react to a situation in the way that you thought/were expecting. If you have a deep love and understanding of your character, the response and flow will continue even if the path is a tangent to what you had expected. The randomness of it all with the right partner is exhilarating.
2c. Be able/willing to write NC-17 material if/when the character relationship progression reaches that point. That should never be the goal of writing (unless an agreed upon PWP), but it is definitely part of the fun for me. I don't want to write with someone who is only comfortable with 'fade to black' scenarios.
3. Life happens. Be available but be understanding. Nudge but don't nag. The fine line of activity vs inactivity and eagerness vs neediness/nagging has killed more than one good writing partnership - and I'm sorry to say I've been on both sides. I have four kids, three of whom are still at home and all of whom are terribly active in sports and school and such. I get that there are days when you might be too busy/too tired to write. Please accept and understand the same from me. Eighty percent of the time, I'm home and able to respond at least once and often several times in an evening - Central Standard Time Zone. I do not expect everyone to have as much time as myself. To keep interest and creativity flowing, it seems to require a minimum of 3-5 responses per week to keep a line/writing relationship alive. If your timezone/time availability do not allow that, please pass this request by.
I've occasionally - rarely - encountered someone with MORE writing time than myself. By all means, let me know when you are available and if my own life matches that extra time, you will definitely see me. However, I had one instance when an enthusiastic writer actually badgered me to the point that I felt stalked. Not cool. "Where are you, what time will you be on tomorrow, why weren't you around earlier today" are stalker-ish questions. I promise I will tell you if I'm going to be gone for an extended period of time. "Going out of town for kid stuff, afk until Monday" and such. If I have not given that sort of notice and you've waited more than 48 hours for a response from me, the chances are good that I somehow missed your tag and a friendly poke - "did you get my reply" is more than appropriate and welcome.
4. Writing venue - I enjoy using Insane Journal for the icons and just familiarity with it. I use custom-locked threads, and though I've often thought that if a storyline worked out well, it might be fun to edit/polish/post it as a co-written fanfic, I've never followed through with the work of that. I'm still willing if that turns out to be a direction my co-writer wishes to go. I've also used simple email threads as well as Google docs and various 'message board' formats. I'm quite flexible on options. I will not use or write in any "instant messenger" tools. My ancient computer can't handle them and they end up being too 'chatty' for my style of writing.
I know this all seems so picky, but I've had so many false starts and failed attempts that it saves time to be particular from the start. My good, strong writing relationships have lasted literally for years! Marriage, babies, job changes, a fading of interest in the fandom and such have left me once again looking for a partner or two.
If I haven't scared you off and you'd like to chat about possibly writing together, please contact me here or at my 'writing' email of shant.writes (at) gmail (dot) com.
Cheers!