Comments | m_mcgonagall_65: Tired and Contemplative

m_mcgonagall_65

Tired and Contemplative

Mar 23, 2008 23:54

Well, it's just before midnight on Sunday here. So Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate it. I've had a busy day with choir and Easter egg hunt at church, lunch with my brother-in-law's family, and work on the new house we've purchased (which needs a great deal of fixing up before we can move in.) I was painting, and my husband and three- ( Read more... )

grangersnape100, writing, family, fanfic

Comments 9

Welcome! elise_wanderer March 24 2008, 08:18:14 UTC

bambu (I recently read her "Guard...Check...Mate" for the second time--bloody marvelous) recommends you, which is praise enough for me. I'm looking forward to reading your work! (It's very late right now, and I should be in bed, having spent the entire day at the theatre, helping ready a show that's opening this Friday.) Although I've begun two much longer pieces, I haven't had the nerve to either begin posting a WIP or to buckle down and finish either, and so have settled so far for one-shots (longer than drabbles, but still nothing to rival some of the amazing full-length works I've been reading online) - I understand your reaction to the requests for more!

Welcome!

Re: Welcome! m_mcgonagall_65 March 24 2008, 13:18:30 UTC

Thanks for your welcome. I love Bambu's "Guard... Check... Mate"! I've read it at least three times. Ah, tech week. I always enjoy living on adrenaline and little sleep. :) Hope your production goes well.

Re: Welcome! m_mcgonagall_65 March 24 2008, 18:29:34 UTC

P.S. I read and enjoyed "Speak Now." I think I reviewed it as Prof M McGonagall, didn't I? Also, I just wanted to compliment you on your choice of LJ themes. ;-)

ozratbag2 March 25 2008, 16:05:30 UTC

"Mommy, look at my deconstruction!" He's very funny...and has quite a vocabulary.

Love it! :D

I suppose the best advice I can give is, not to rush yourself...and don't let anyone else rush you either. This fandom is a strange beast to a degree, and it gives what you give, but if the words aren't working, trying to hunt them out, only works for so long. :)

So I'm asking those of you more experienced than I: 1) Where do your ideas come from?

All over the place, and I'm inclined to add some things from work into my stories, simply as a way of processing events, etc. I'm a people watcher as well - always have been - and I like adding the quirks I see into what I write.

2) What are some ways you go about developing them?

Often I'll research some aspect, particularly if I'm not sure of something. For the last sshg_exchange I used PTSD in my story. I've seen it from a Nursing perspective, but I had to try and understand just how debilitating it is for sufferers. Research, research and more research, is the simple answer.

3) How do you work ( ... )

m_mcgonagall_65 March 26 2008, 12:05:54 UTC

Thanks for the advice and taking the trouble to answer my questions. I checked out your story at the Exchange and read it. I really liked what you posted so far. I could see you bringing your nursing into that story, and the development of the relationship between Severus and Hermione seemed so natural to their characters in the story.

karelia March 27 2008, 04:06:23 UTC

*waves* I've just seen Bambu's entry about you, so I wandered over. :-)

Drabbles are good. I don't write them often enough! I think writing is very much a personal thing, so you'll probably find as many different answers to your questions as you ask people. But here are mine...

1. Anywhere. It can be a story prompt I read on a list, a prompt I'm given on the sshg_exchange, some outrageous conspiracy theory I read, a fairy tale, a song, an experience. Then suddenly, I find myself watching a scene in my mind and take it from there.
2. I'm an obsessive note-taker. I have a notebook for each story I'm working on and endlessly scribble even the tiniest thoughts down so I won't forget them. Usually, after a while (sometimes hours, sometimes months), I can see a definite plot development there.
3. Coax the Muse. With chocolate, coffee, red wine, or simply the promise to listen to her next time she suggests something. :-)

Happy nearly-Thursday...

m_mcgonagall_65 March 27 2008, 04:30:43 UTC

Nice to meet you. :-) Your user name seemed familiar, so I checked at Ashwinder. I've read "The Potion With the Unintended Notion." It made me laugh. Thanks for giving me your answers to my questions. It helps to hear other people's ideas and see if they will fit for me (or can at least be adapted). Happy Thursday to you!

karelia March 27 2008, 04:39:04 UTC

Oh... Writing that fic traumatised me - I spoke in lymericks for nearly a week!

I agree, I, too, find it helpful to hear/read other people's ideas. I learned that I can actually sit in front of a notebook, pen ready, and start writing, and something will come off it. I'd never have believed it if I hadn't read a friend's account how she writes. Communication is a wonderful thing!

m_mcgonagall_65 March 27 2008, 05:31:28 UTC

I can totally relate to the speaking in rhyme. When I'm in a play, the lines from the play come out in casual conversation for months at a time.

As for advice from fellow writers... well, that's been the neat thing about watching livejournal. Advice and encouragement are both so helpful.