Fandom Questions Meme (29-34)
29. Do you have a beta reader? Why/Why not?
persiflage_1 usually gives anything longer or more complicated or for an exchange a once-over for me, and I have had multiple other people beta for me, particularly for exchanges.
justice_turtle and
dbskyler have both beta-ed & US-picked for me (JT once even beta-ed a vid!), while
clocketpatch has had to put up with me several times sending her my strangest fic to ask her if it's too strange, and
aralias has been v helpful too, especially for Remix & that time I wanted Age of Sail input.
I ask for a beta, particularly for exchanges, because what piece of work doesn't need a second pair of eyes on it to catch typos, errors and plotholes and what have you? I don't usually for all my regular stories and ficlets because I get impatient and also I want (stupidly, usually) to try and beat my ME-related symptoms (which include mild dyslexia at times) by myself. (Take that, ME!!! *fences it* *fails to defeat it as usual*) But for exchanges, I don't usually post anything un-betaed, barring very short late treats.
Anyway, betas are great and have saved me from many embarrassing bloopers that would otherwise have made it to Teaspoon or AO3, most notably the one where I wasn't all that clear about whether or not the Master had Dracula the novel stashed under console or, you know, Dracula himself. (Thanks, Clocket!)
On top of that, my flist have often post-beta-ed things for me and pointed out my writing flaws. (If I'm still rubbish now, it's entirely my own fault and not yours.)
30. What inspires you to write?
A wild idea occurs! Or there is a prompt. There are lots of prompts! Also exchanges, writing memes and random generators, and never enough time (if functional) or brain (if not).
31. What’s the nicest thing someone has ever said about your writing?
Hmm, without a comprehensive check of every nice comment (and there's a cheering activity for a rainy day) it's hard to say. But actually, one of the things that I've most treasured is when Oonaseckar, reading one of my Runaway Tales pieces, said this: I do like Julia: I never want to look clearly at her flaws, but she seems willing to. Which just made me feel that, yes, the character (and hopefully characters) I've created feel fully rounded and real, and that's good to know.
In related things, I suppose also, that two of the people who commented on one of the Edward/Julia AUs I posted to AO3 (the
unconventionalcourtship one) said they liked my style, which was very encouraging.
I'm also still touched both by the people who felt there was a sense of humanity and compassion to Vigil and the lovely comments that I got in Yuletide 2016 on movements of the mind, but maybe Yule-Shakespeare readers are just particularly kind!
32. Do you listen to music when you write or does music inspire you? If so, which band or genre of music does it for you?
I do! It's a bit more complicated now I'm ill, because I've graduated back to being able to listen to music, but only certain things that help, so choice is a bit... not a choice, really.
I used to make up playlists from songs used in fanvids for that fandom. I don't get distracted by lyrics, because it just blurs into the background, but I like having music on. It still feels a bit odd that I have to be so careful about it.
33. Do you write oneshots, multi-chapter fics or huuuuuge epics?
Mostly one-shots, but that's due to illness. It was probably a fairly even multi-chapters vs one-shots when I was more functional.
I've never written a huge epic, though.
34. What’s the word count on your longest fic?
UNIT: End Game (the kind of epic finale of the 1980s UNIT series) is at 85,839 words, according to Teaspoon. (AO3 would probably have it as less.)
Crossposted from Dreamwidth. Please click through to comment. -- Current comments:
persiflage_1 usually gives anything longer or more complicated or for an exchange a once-over for me, and I have had multiple other people beta for me, particularly for exchanges.
justice_turtle and
dbskyler have both beta-ed & US-picked for me (JT once even beta-ed a vid!), while
clocketpatch has had to put up with me several times sending her my strangest fic to ask her if it's too strange, and
aralias has been v helpful too, especially for Remix & that time I wanted Age of Sail input.
I ask for a beta, particularly for exchanges, because what piece of work doesn't need a second pair of eyes on it to catch typos, errors and plotholes and what have you? I don't usually for all my regular stories and ficlets because I get impatient and also I want (stupidly, usually) to try and beat my ME-related symptoms (which include mild dyslexia at times) by myself. (Take that, ME!!! *fences it* *fails to defeat it as usual*) But for exchanges, I don't usually post anything un-betaed, barring very short late treats.
Anyway, betas are great and have saved me from many embarrassing bloopers that would otherwise have made it to Teaspoon or AO3, most notably the one where I wasn't all that clear about whether or not the Master had Dracula the novel stashed under console or, you know, Dracula himself. (Thanks, Clocket!)
On top of that, my flist have often post-beta-ed things for me and pointed out my writing flaws. (If I'm still rubbish now, it's entirely my own fault and not yours.)
30. What inspires you to write?
A wild idea occurs! Or there is a prompt. There are lots of prompts! Also exchanges, writing memes and random generators, and never enough time (if functional) or brain (if not).
31. What’s the nicest thing someone has ever said about your writing?
Hmm, without a comprehensive check of every nice comment (and there's a cheering activity for a rainy day) it's hard to say. But actually, one of the things that I've most treasured is when Oonaseckar, reading one of my Runaway Tales pieces, said this: I do like Julia: I never want to look clearly at her flaws, but she seems willing to. Which just made me feel that, yes, the character (and hopefully characters) I've created feel fully rounded and real, and that's good to know.
In related things, I suppose also, that two of the people who commented on one of the Edward/Julia AUs I posted to AO3 (the
unconventionalcourtship one) said they liked my style, which was very encouraging.
I'm also still touched both by the people who felt there was a sense of humanity and compassion to Vigil and the lovely comments that I got in Yuletide 2016 on movements of the mind, but maybe Yule-Shakespeare readers are just particularly kind!
32. Do you listen to music when you write or does music inspire you? If so, which band or genre of music does it for you?
I do! It's a bit more complicated now I'm ill, because I've graduated back to being able to listen to music, but only certain things that help, so choice is a bit... not a choice, really.
I used to make up playlists from songs used in fanvids for that fandom. I don't get distracted by lyrics, because it just blurs into the background, but I like having music on. It still feels a bit odd that I have to be so careful about it.
33. Do you write oneshots, multi-chapter fics or huuuuuge epics?
Mostly one-shots, but that's due to illness. It was probably a fairly even multi-chapters vs one-shots when I was more functional.
I've never written a huge epic, though.
34. What’s the word count on your longest fic?
UNIT: End Game (the kind of epic finale of the 1980s UNIT series) is at 85,839 words, according to Teaspoon. (AO3 would probably have it as less.)
Crossposted from Dreamwidth. Please click through to comment. -- Current comments: