The Examination: Shutterbug_12

[namasteyoga]

Some fic writers enter the fandom arena slowly, slinking around the edges with a few ficlets, maybe a one-shot character study. shutterbug_12 entered with A Certain Dawn, a 23,000-word, House/Wilson take on the Ketamine failure that took us further than canon.

“You couldn’t fail.” Wilson finished House’s sentence quietly. Despite himself, Wilson raised his

Comments

[shutterbug_12]

After a period of trying to read them, I now read very little kid-fics. Sometimes I take a chance and read one written by an author I trust, but I find that too many are idealized and authors don't keep characters in-character. Plus, it has to do with my personal feelings about kids in general; they don't interest me very much in real life, so it's hard for me to want to read a story featuring a child. I think it would be even more difficult for me to write a kid-fic, because I've had very little contact with children in my life, despite being the oldest of my 'generation', I guess, in my family. I think the people who write the best kid-fics have had a lot of experience around children. Those are the authors who treat the subject realistically and realize that raising a child involves very hard work, and is not all happy times and cute pajamas. I'm very...careful with kid-fics these days, I suppose.

I try, in some form, to write every day. Sometimes I turn out absolute crap, but at least I've written something. When life is

[shutterbug_12]

Aw, thanks. =D About the sex, I think it's not that I doubt my abilities to write it, but, for me, it seems harder to write than most other things. It's very description heavy and there is so much going on, physically and emotionally, during sex that there's a lot to consider. It's just very...involved. Hee. But thanks again! =)

[pwcorgigirl]

I pretty much regard "Eden Sank to Grief" as canon for the House/Stacy relationship. While we all know how their story is going to end, you manage to pull off the difficult feat of showing them together without the shadow of that coming tragedy cast over them. And I love it that the relationship isn't perfect, but it suits those two very intelligent, stubborn, passionate people so very well. You have a wonderful talent for portraying life with someone realistically and with a sense of lyricism.

(And thanks for the lovely compliment!)

[shutterbug_12]

Damn, wow. Thank you. Really. I'm really blown away by that comment. Thank you.

And to think that "Eden" began as this tiny, little one-shot that exploded into what it's become. I'm not sure if it's tacky for authors to admit this kind of thing, but "Eden" really is my baby. I'm really attached to it, and even after it's over, I'll probably continue to write pre-infarction stories in that "verse", I guess. I really enjoy exploring their relationship.

[phinnia]

I totally admire your ability to plan everything, because I /can't/ do that without a lot of effort - your focus and dedication is astonishing. <3 And I'm flattered that I've got something you feel like stealing. <3 And oh god I'm so with you on your opinions re: ship wars and comment quotas.

Do you have any resources that you tend to draw on frequently in researching fics? (I'm always curious about this sort of thing.)

[shutterbug_12]

That kind of planning to me is automatic. I do it without always realizing it, so it's just a natural part of my whole process (with pretty much everything I do, not just writing). Except, strangely enough, the RPG, where I let myself plan close to nothing, mostly because I can't, because I'm so dependent on what my partner will write. It's very liberating in a way, and I really enjoy that form of writing, too, but I wouldn't be able to do that with a regular fic, I think, because fics demand that I pay attention to more than one thing, one character, situation, etc. But, most of the time, planning comes so naturally and easily that it makes the most sense for me to use that when I'm writing. It really helps me a lot

[euclase]

Oh, I'm so glad you linked us to this. Like phinnia, I absolutely admire the amount of care and planning that goes into your writing, and it's really great that you shared some of your process here. Especially outlining! And it's really interesting that you say you can't write without a plan--could you ever conceive of a scenario in which you could? What would it take for that to happen, and would you ever be willing to try it? Also, if I may ask, why do you think careful planning is so important to you? Is it because you don't like surprises, or would you rather the surprises come in smaller packages--in the writing itself?

Lol, sorry. Too many questions. I'm just curious.

I love that your sister was a major factor in inspiring you to start writing fanfiction. And thank you for your sweet compliment about the visuals. That was a surprise!

[shutterbug_12]

Well, I basically write without a plan for the RPG, but I'm comfortable with it because of how the entire process works. I'm so dependent on what my partner writes, and my responses aren't planned, but very spontaneous. It's liberating in a way, but I'm not sure I could do the no-planning thing with a regular fic. With the RPG, I only have to live inside one of the character's heads, and I'm not so concerned with creating common bonds (with images, symbols, themes, etc.) from thread to thread as I am with creating those things from section to section in a regular story

[euclase]

Oh my goodness, thank you for the incredibly thoughtful reply. It's pretty cool to be able to relate to a lot of what you say about planning vs. spontaneity. Especially this part:

I feel like my brain will automatically create a plan anyway. Even if it's just a mental bullet list of events or small points I'd like to cover. I've always written this way. I wrote academic papers this way. Letters. Journal entries. Stories. Usually, I have my lists and outlines written down, but sometimes they stay in my head. Sometimes I do it without really realizing it.I wonder if a lot of writers do that, because I certainly do, and apparently you do as well. I suppose there's always SOME amount of planning involved, and it may just vary in degree from writer to writer. Some of us need to see it, some of us don't. The way you describe planning without realizing it is exactly how I write most things, and I'd be curious to learn if other writers aren't doing similar. So can there really be such a thing as true spontaneity? Awesome things to think