we know all the patterns, we follow the rules

[frith_in_thorns]

The "Ask Me About My Writing" meme! As seen just about everywhere on my flist.

Just ask me general questions because I don't know how I would answer the suggested ones :P

Posted at http://frith-in-thorns.dreamwidth.org/115134.html with

Comments

[frith_in_thorns]

Totally a psychological thing, but for ages I could only write longhand -- I used to write on file paper, and finally a friend pointed out that I could actually get narrow-ruled A4 notebooks! (My handwriting is teeny, so it looks really weird in standard-ruled. Don't ask why A4, I have no answer.) This is pretty good because it means I can consistently estimate my wordcount -- one side is about 500 words. (Up to 750-ish if no dialogue, but 500 is nice and neat

[aragarna]

what are you looking for in fanfictions?

[frith_in_thorns]

Hmmmmm. I tend to start my Fanfic Adventures in a new fandom by going to AO3 and filtering for h/c featuring my favourite character. (I didn't have to do this in White Collar because someone pointed me right away to the Neal masterpost :D)

After that, for general reading... I'm mostly here for things that are about character gen relationships. Sometimes romantic ones, but I find sex actively off-putting. Mainly... I don't really know how to describe what I look for. Nice things. With hurt. Then cuddles.

Or fic critiquing canon. I like that too.

[sholio]

Do you approach writing differently in different fandoms, or is your process basically the same?

[frith_in_thorns]

I think the answer is "basically the same" for as much as I have a "process" at all! I just sort of... sit and write a thing from beginning to end? Over several days or whatever, but I don't scene-jump within the fic. (Usually before I start writing I have developed the habit of floating the story idea past either you or Eleanor because I apparently have zero faith that I have a workable idea until someone pokes me :P I'M SO COOL.)

[helle_d]

A selection of questions for you to pick from (or answer all):

What things surprise you in your writings?

What do you feel particularly pleased by when you get it right in writing?

What word do you reckon you most overuse?

Why do you object so much to writing me fic with tentacles in it?

[frith_in_thorns]

1. How blurry I find the line between gen friendship and romantic ship. I have occasionally agonised at length about how to classify a fic once I've finished writing it. (Sometimes I have got other people to read it and asked their opinions. Their opinions inevitably clash with each others'.)

2. On the occasions when I've written it, romance. Like, I still have no idea how this works. Also it took me ages and ages to relax at all about writing dialogue.

3. Not quite a word, but the sort of sentence construction that goes "he felt as though this, but in actual fact that". Also descriptive adjectives I can tack on after "said".

4. Because your face.

[imbecamiel]

Hmmm...

When writing a story, do you tend to do every scene in order, or do you often jump around as inspiration strikes? :)

[frith_in_thorns]

I never ever jump around between scenes -- everything has to be in order. This is partly because I know that if I skip ahead to get to the scenes I really want to write I will never get around to filling in the ones between and the fic will languish unfinished forever.