30 Days of Fanfic Writing: Days 22-24 // High school fellowship reunion
I was at a BBQ tonight for a reunion of my church's high school fellowship. Not everyone showed up, as the case often is with high school reunions, but there was still a respectable turn-out given it was planned rather haphazardly and only a few weeks in advance. It was sad, though, to realise that of the twenty of us who'd been in fellowship together, my sister and I are the only ones still attending our home church. Which is not to say everyone else has stopped going to church--the opposite, in fact, as quite a few are now pastors or working in ministry. Just at different churches. But I guess this is what happens: we get older, we get jobs elsewhere, we start families or maybe just need a change, and we find a new church to be our home. After my sister gets married and looks for a new multicultural church with her Catholic Caucasian husband, I'll be the only one left except our old counsellors.
I had a good time, despite the nostalgia. Our hosts moved into this new house a few months ago, and it has a pool! Salt water and warm enough that the cool night didn't deter me from jumping in with their two boys and the husband of another guest. Just the four of us, but it was more fun roughhousing with the boys than trying to make small-talk in such a big group.
22) Have you ever participated in a fest or a Big Bang? If so, write about your favourite experience in relation to one. If not, are there any you've thought about doing? And if not, why not?
I've participated in a lot of fests, from Yuletide to theme-based fests to pairing-specific ficathons. I've signed up for quite a few Big Bangs, as well, though I've never managed to complete one yet.
My two favourite fests are the John/Cam Thing-a-thon and John/Ronon Thing-a-thon, which are run annually by raisintorte @ sg_flyboys and gaffsie @ satedan_grabass, respectively. I've just had really good experiences with both Thing-a-thons because they're small and low-key, with participants who all enjoy the same characters and/or pairing, and authors and artists and vidders who respect each other's prompts and limits. There's always incredible fanworks produced and much fun in the process as well. For me, personally, part of the fun is getting to dig into these characters (John, Cam, Ronon) and these two pairings (John/Cam, John/Ronon) and exploring them thoroughly in fic, while knowing that I'm writing for someone who will read and appreciate and understand what I'm trying to do, creatively.
23) When you post, where do you post to? Just your journal? Just an archive? Your own personal site?
Dreamwidth, LiveJournal, and Archive of Our Own. My SGA and SG-1/SGA crossover fic also gets posted to Wraithbait, and some of my TWW fic is over on National Archive, but I'll admit to not really paying attention to what goes on in those archives. I throw up my stories and kind of forget about them. If a ficathon requires me to post to the community itself, or requires the mod to post on my behalf because authors need to remain anonymous, I will later re-post in my own DW/LJ. This is not my preferred method of posting, however; I like being able to edit if I find typos or other errors after the story's gone live.
24) Betaing - How many betas do you like to use to make sure there aren't any major flaws in your fic? Do you have a Beta horror story or dream story?
Ahaha! I almost never use a beta. Mostly because I'm always writing until the deadline's come and gone, and don't have time for one! The two or three times that I've had a beta were for technical issues:
tesserae explained tides and undertows for Rising Tide, winetraveldance explains military stuff. They were total lifesavers!
twistedchick was my beta for Summer of Stargate and
gehayi was my beta for HP Big Bang, but of course I didn't finish writing those. So I guess if there's any kind of horror story, it's on their part for having to put up with an author who flakes out halfway through!
1) How did you first get into writing fanfic, and what was the first fandom you wrote for? What do you think it was about that fandom that pulled you in?
2) Name the fandoms you've written in, and how much you've written in that fandom, and if you still write in it.
3) For each of the fandoms from day two, what were your favorite characters to write?
4) Do you have a "muse" character, that speaks to you more than others, or that tries to push their way in, even when the fic isn't about them? Who are they, and why did that character became your muse?
5) If you have ever had a character try to push their way into a fic, whether your "muse" or not, what did you do about it?
6) When you write, do you prefer writing male or female characters?
7) Have you ever had a fic change your opinion of a character?
8) Do you write OCs? And if so, what do you do to make certain they're not Mary Sues, and if not, explain your thoughts on OCs.
9) Pairings - For each of the fandoms from day two, what are your three favourite pairings to write?
10) Pairings - Have you ever gone outside your comfort zone and written a pairing you liked, but found you couldn't write, or a pairing you didn't like, and found you could?
11) Genre - do you prefer certain genres of fic when you're writing? What kind do you tend to write most?
12) Have you ever attempted an "adaptation" fic of a favourite book or movie but set in a different fandom?
13) Do you prefer canon or fanon when you write? Has writing fanfic for a fandom changed the way you see some or even all of the original source material?
14) Ratings - how high are you comfortable with going? Have you ever written higher? If you're comfortable with NC-17, have you ever been shocked by finding that the story you're writing is G-rated instead?
15) Warnings - What do you feel it most important to warn for, and what's the strangest thing you've warned for in a fic?
16) Summaries - Do you like them or hate them? How do you come up with them, if you use them?
17) Titles - Are they the bane of your existence, or the easiest part of the fic? Also, if you do chaptered fic, do you give each chapter a title, or not?
18) Where do you get the most inspiration for your fics (aka "bunnies") from?
19) When you have bunnies, do you sit down and start writing right away, or do you write down the idea for further use?
20) Do you ever get bunnied from other people's stories or art in the same fandom?
21) Sequels - Have you ever written a sequel to a fic you wrote, and if so, why, and if not, how do you feel about sequels?
22) Have you ever participated in a fest or a Big Bang? If so, write about your favourite experience in relation to one. If not, are there any you've thought about doing? And if not, why not?
23) When you post, where do you post to? Just your journal? Just an archive? Your own personal site?
24) Betaing - How many betas do you like to use to make sure there aren't any major flaws in your fic? Do you have a Beta horror story or dream story?
25) Music - Do you listen to music while you write? Do you make playlists to get into a certain "mood" to write your fic? Do you need noise in general? Or do you need it completely quiet?
26) What is the oddest (or funnest) thing you've had to research for a fic?
27) Where is your favourite place to write, and do you write by hand or on the computer?
28) Have you ever collaborated with anyone else, whether writing together, or having an artist work on a piece about your fic?
29) What is your current project or projects?
30) Do you have a favourite fic you've written? What makes it your favourite? And don't forget to give us a link!
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I had a good time, despite the nostalgia. Our hosts moved into this new house a few months ago, and it has a pool! Salt water and warm enough that the cool night didn't deter me from jumping in with their two boys and the husband of another guest. Just the four of us, but it was more fun roughhousing with the boys than trying to make small-talk in such a big group.
22) Have you ever participated in a fest or a Big Bang? If so, write about your favourite experience in relation to one. If not, are there any you've thought about doing? And if not, why not?
I've participated in a lot of fests, from Yuletide to theme-based fests to pairing-specific ficathons. I've signed up for quite a few Big Bangs, as well, though I've never managed to complete one yet.
My two favourite fests are the John/Cam Thing-a-thon and John/Ronon Thing-a-thon, which are run annually by raisintorte @ sg_flyboys and gaffsie @ satedan_grabass, respectively. I've just had really good experiences with both Thing-a-thons because they're small and low-key, with participants who all enjoy the same characters and/or pairing, and authors and artists and vidders who respect each other's prompts and limits. There's always incredible fanworks produced and much fun in the process as well. For me, personally, part of the fun is getting to dig into these characters (John, Cam, Ronon) and these two pairings (John/Cam, John/Ronon) and exploring them thoroughly in fic, while knowing that I'm writing for someone who will read and appreciate and understand what I'm trying to do, creatively.
23) When you post, where do you post to? Just your journal? Just an archive? Your own personal site?
Dreamwidth, LiveJournal, and Archive of Our Own. My SGA and SG-1/SGA crossover fic also gets posted to Wraithbait, and some of my TWW fic is over on National Archive, but I'll admit to not really paying attention to what goes on in those archives. I throw up my stories and kind of forget about them. If a ficathon requires me to post to the community itself, or requires the mod to post on my behalf because authors need to remain anonymous, I will later re-post in my own DW/LJ. This is not my preferred method of posting, however; I like being able to edit if I find typos or other errors after the story's gone live.
24) Betaing - How many betas do you like to use to make sure there aren't any major flaws in your fic? Do you have a Beta horror story or dream story?
Ahaha! I almost never use a beta. Mostly because I'm always writing until the deadline's come and gone, and don't have time for one! The two or three times that I've had a beta were for technical issues:
tesserae explained tides and undertows for Rising Tide, winetraveldance explains military stuff. They were total lifesavers!
twistedchick was my beta for Summer of Stargate and
gehayi was my beta for HP Big Bang, but of course I didn't finish writing those. So I guess if there's any kind of horror story, it's on their part for having to put up with an author who flakes out halfway through!
1) How did you first get into writing fanfic, and what was the first fandom you wrote for? What do you think it was about that fandom that pulled you in?
2) Name the fandoms you've written in, and how much you've written in that fandom, and if you still write in it.
3) For each of the fandoms from day two, what were your favorite characters to write?
4) Do you have a "muse" character, that speaks to you more than others, or that tries to push their way in, even when the fic isn't about them? Who are they, and why did that character became your muse?
5) If you have ever had a character try to push their way into a fic, whether your "muse" or not, what did you do about it?
6) When you write, do you prefer writing male or female characters?
7) Have you ever had a fic change your opinion of a character?
8) Do you write OCs? And if so, what do you do to make certain they're not Mary Sues, and if not, explain your thoughts on OCs.
9) Pairings - For each of the fandoms from day two, what are your three favourite pairings to write?
10) Pairings - Have you ever gone outside your comfort zone and written a pairing you liked, but found you couldn't write, or a pairing you didn't like, and found you could?
11) Genre - do you prefer certain genres of fic when you're writing? What kind do you tend to write most?
12) Have you ever attempted an "adaptation" fic of a favourite book or movie but set in a different fandom?
13) Do you prefer canon or fanon when you write? Has writing fanfic for a fandom changed the way you see some or even all of the original source material?
14) Ratings - how high are you comfortable with going? Have you ever written higher? If you're comfortable with NC-17, have you ever been shocked by finding that the story you're writing is G-rated instead?
15) Warnings - What do you feel it most important to warn for, and what's the strangest thing you've warned for in a fic?
16) Summaries - Do you like them or hate them? How do you come up with them, if you use them?
17) Titles - Are they the bane of your existence, or the easiest part of the fic? Also, if you do chaptered fic, do you give each chapter a title, or not?
18) Where do you get the most inspiration for your fics (aka "bunnies") from?
19) When you have bunnies, do you sit down and start writing right away, or do you write down the idea for further use?
20) Do you ever get bunnied from other people's stories or art in the same fandom?
21) Sequels - Have you ever written a sequel to a fic you wrote, and if so, why, and if not, how do you feel about sequels?
22) Have you ever participated in a fest or a Big Bang? If so, write about your favourite experience in relation to one. If not, are there any you've thought about doing? And if not, why not?
23) When you post, where do you post to? Just your journal? Just an archive? Your own personal site?
24) Betaing - How many betas do you like to use to make sure there aren't any major flaws in your fic? Do you have a Beta horror story or dream story?
25) Music - Do you listen to music while you write? Do you make playlists to get into a certain "mood" to write your fic? Do you need noise in general? Or do you need it completely quiet?
26) What is the oddest (or funnest) thing you've had to research for a fic?
27) Where is your favourite place to write, and do you write by hand or on the computer?
28) Have you ever collaborated with anyone else, whether writing together, or having an artist work on a piece about your fic?
29) What is your current project or projects?
30) Do you have a favourite fic you've written? What makes it your favourite? And don't forget to give us a link!
I prefer comments on Dreamwidth |
comment(s)