(Untitled)
**A Boat Trip to Kate**
Pairings: Abby/Gibbs, Gibbs/Kate
Rating:PG-13
Spoilers for Twilight/Season 2 Finale
Summary: A twisted dream of Abby's--does she dream of the future--or is she crazy? You decide. A little out-of-character...but still. Comments appreciated.
"Gibbs sir, where are we going?"says Abby as she struggles to keep her dinner down ( Read more... )
Writing is a learning process just as much as everything else, and it sounds like you're at the beginning of that process. One of the important things to remember is that even if you read something that says it's someone's first fanfic, it doesn't mean they haven't been writing for years. I only posted my first fanfic a few years back, but I've been writing stories since I learned how to read.
Criticism isn't always a bad thing, either. Sometimes it can help us realise what we're missing, just because we don't see it, but someone else can. The first story I ever read for a writers' circle, I had ten pages written from the Point Of View of the main character, and finally someone pointed out to me that they had no idea who that person was, or even if it was a woman or a man. Everybody makes mistakes, and it sometimes helps when people catch them, so we can learn.
Some of my best writing help came from a near cliched source -- my English teachers. Now, you might not want to show your teachers your fanfic, since fanfiction is a bit of a grey area with regards to copyright, but you can always write a story as original fiction -- change the characters names and the setting a little, it doesn't have to be a lot -- and ask for some help with it. Sometimes it helps to have someone sitting right there who can show you where you've missed something.
Like I said, it's a process and everybody has a start point where if you showed them those stories now, they'd want to burn them. Even now for me, for every good story I write, there's probably five left sitting on my computer that I look at and think "What was I thinking?" Unfortunately, a lot of us forget starting out, mainly because it was so many years ago.
And I know: it's hard not to take things personally. And if I read things right, you're in one of the worst years of school going. To put it in NCIS terms, you're a Probie.
To be honest, I think you have a lot of creativity. All it is now is just finding a way to channel and refine it.
I'm glad I could help some, though, even -- or maybe even especially -- with school stuff. I really do wish I had some of those resources when I was in school, they would have made life a lot easier.
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You have a good thing going... you have the imagination to come up with the stories, the plots, the ideas. That is the most important thing in any and all fiction... including fanfic. before everything else, you have to see the story.
If you look at my fiction... it's extremely rare that I tackle a plot story like as you do. It is the hardest (to me) to write. So much has to go into a plot-based story: ideas for the plot (in NCIS, usually a criminal mystery), research for every possible facet of the mystery, characterization, and then all the rules of grammar and the English language. In fact, the one major plot-based story I have written (that is published on the net) is an NCIS trilogy: Aftershocks; Say Goodbye, Kate; and Say Hello, Caitlin. The middle one Say Goodbye, Kate, is probably one of the worst stories I have written. The research is bad; the characterization horrible. It literally (to me) sucks.
I don't like writing plot-based stories for this reason... and because I don't have the time to do all the research required. Instead, I focus more on shorter, character-based stories. Stories that fill in a scene; stories that fill in a thought process; stories that attempt to explain a character's actions. Those are the types of stories I feel comfortable writing.
And the thing you can't do is stop. I started writing fiction/fanfiction (although I didn't know it was called fanfiction then) in 6th grade. I can't even read those stories anymore. :) But they are what started my love of writing... and what has brought me to where I am now in the craft. I have a ton of stories on my laptop that aren't finished or will never see the light of day. It all helps you hone and work through the writing process.
And writing will always be a process, an evolution. When you decide that it is perfect, you know you aren't cut out to be a writer... because your writing has to always evolve... it's the mark of a true writer. Which, if you feeling the calling to write... as you obviously do, then you are one. Welcome to the club. Bad news though... you will always been a member, which means you will always feel that desire to write!
I think you should continue. It took me years to get the courage to post publicly... so cudious to you for posting! One way to help (and decrease on the crazys like me who take out craptastic days on unsuspecting people) is to run your stories by a beta that has experience with grammar and with the topics of your story... which will usually mean more than one beta. Because the best writers always miss things in their own stories.
I am usually available... although I am not perfect on the grammar. (hence my betas!)
So I hope you change your mind... even if you don't post them!
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