Writing Meme

[potentiality_26]

Ask me up to three questions.

1. What made you start writing fanfic
2. Which of your own fanfics have you reread the most?
3. Describe the differences between your first fanfic and your most recent fanfic.
4. Do you think your style has changed over time? How so?
5. You've posted a fic anonymously. How would someone be able to guess that you'd written it?
6. Name three stories you found easy to write.
7. Name three stories you found difficult to write.
8. What's your ratio of hits to kudos?
9. What do your fic bookmarks say about you?
10. What's a theme that keeps coming up in your writing?
11. What kind of relationships are you most interested in writing?
12. For E-rated fic, what are some things your characters keep doing?
13. Name three favorite characters to write.
14. You're applying for the fanfic writer of the year award. What five fanfics do you put in your portfolio?
15. Question of your choice!

Ganked from oldtoadwoman (who borrowed it from scribblemoose) via elrhiarhodan

Here is the code – just cut and paste the whole thing if you want to play, too:

<br /><br />Ask me up to three questions.<br /><br />1. What made you start writing fanfic?<br />2. Which of your own fanfics have you reread the most?<br />3. Describe the differences between your first fanfic and your most recent fanfic.<br />4. Do you think your style has changed over time? How so? <br />5. You've posted a fic anonymously. How would someone be able to guess that you'd written it? <br />6. Name three stories you found easy to write. <br />7. Name three stories you found difficult to write. <br />8. What's your ratio of hits to kudos? <br />9. What do your fic bookmarks say about you? <br />10. What's a theme that keeps coming up in your writing? <br />11. What kind of relationships are you most interested in writing? <br />12. For E-rated fic, what are some things your characters keep doing? <br />13. Name three favorite characters to write. <br />14. You're applying for the fanfic writer of the year award. What five fanfics do you put in your portfolio? <br />15. Question of your choice!<br /><br />Ganked from <user name=Oldtoadwoman> (who borrowed it from <user name=scribblemoose>) via <user name=potentiality-26>

Comments

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

How about #10?

[potentiality_26]

10. What's a theme that keeps coming up in your writing?

I really like good old fashioned mutual pining. Also fics with misunderstandings/miscommunications that end with a big "getting on the same page" scene and happily ever after. Sometimes I get annoyed with myself for writing so many of those, but it's what I like to read, and it's a common enough trope that I figure enough other people like to read it too.

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Cool! I certainly enjoyed the Holmes/Watson one.

[potentiality_26]

Thank you!

[elrhiarhodan]

1, 5 and 14, thank you so much!

[potentiality_26]

1. What made you start writing fanfic?

Well, I first started writing as a youngish teen because I was reading a lot of fanfiction at the time and I figured it was the thing to do. Those fics still probably exist somewhere under their abandoned username. I stopped for a while because I was busy with school and then work and I wanted to devote what free time I had to original writing. But later, when I started really getting gripped by various ships and fandoms again, I went back to writing fanfiction. I really got into it as a way to keep writing and creating without the same pressure that ultimately made it hard for me to ever finish an original work.

5. You've posted a fic anonymously. How would someone be able to guess that you'd written it?

I'd say the pining -> get-together set up, but it's common enough in fics that it's hard to say that they would be obviously mine. I use the phrase "for a moment" or some variant thereon so much that I often notice and try to cut a few, and there may be other verbal tics like that. Otherwise I don't know. I'd be interested to hear what other people think would give me away, honestly.

14. You're applying for the fanfic writer of the year award. What five fanfics do you put in your portfolio?

Hmmm, I can't tell from this question if I should be picking these fics from just one year or not- so I'll cast a wider net. Five fics I'm really proud of and think show would a good spectrum of my works are: A Matter of Convenience, A Most Remarkable Case, A Room For the Night, Eighth Time's the Charm, and No Charm Equal.

[theicescholar]

Any questions that haven't been answered yet. :)

Do you mind if I just copypasta from your post?

[potentiality_26]

3. Describe the differences between your first fanfic and your most recent fanfic.

The most obvious difference is that the first fic I posted (on AO3, my old FF.net fics shall not be named) was 2k with a 1k sequel, and I distinctly remember that back then I couldn't imagine writing anything shorter than 1k. The fic I just posted is only ~600 words. It's also for a movie that I just watched and felt like doing a ficlet for. My first fic was one of many I wrote for a TV show and hoarded for months before finally posting.

So, generally it shows that I'm trying to do new things and be less precious about my writing than I was when I started out.

4. Do you think your style has changed over time? How so?

Definitely, but not in a linear way. Sometimes I get into a more minimalistic phase with my writing, sometimes I go in the other direction and get wordier than Dickens. I do think I'm a better writer than when I first started, but it's difficult to pin down how.

6. Name three stories you found easy to write.

My first three Thorne fics, actually. The Lightning, All the Sinners Saints, and Nocturne. I bet I mentioned in the author's note on The Lightning that I wrote it right away- and by that I mean I got the whole thing out the day after I saw Sleepyhead. And then I started All the Sinners Saints the day after that, once I had finished Scaredycat. And then I rewatched them both and wrote even more. I found it such an incredibly easy fandom to write for right away.

8. What's your ratio of hits to kudos?

It really depends on the fic and the fandom. Some have a 4:1 ratio (which is really good, in my experience), and some have closer to a 10:1 or even 13:1. It really varies.

And please, copy away! (Sorry for the late reply btw, it's been a weird week)

[thisbluespirit]

How about 13?

[potentiality_26]

13. Name three favorite characters to write.

This is rather difficult to answer without a specific fandom. If I've taken the time to write about a character, I love them with all my heart while I'm doing it. There was a period of about two years when Kingsman was my only fandom (in fact, in 2016 it was the only thing I wrote fics for at all) and it was really easy to answer questions like this. On AO3 Harry Hart is still my most written about character, and the next three characters in line are all from Kingsman too. But the sequel really turned me off, and now I'm back in "I love a dozen fandoms equally" mode. But some character elements I broadly like are:

- Characters I can ship with a lot of other characters. Sometimes I'll have an OTP or favor gen, but mostly I'm a multishipper and it's nice to have a lot of options. It's not really that important, though. I can ship a character with someone they've never met if the mood strikes.

- Characters who are underexplored in canon. I like to be able to fill in certain the blanks on my own. A lot of detail can be nice when consuming the canon itself, but for fanfiction I like an open sandbox. And I don't really like when canon negates some of it later on. Part of the reason that though I may chase shiny new things from time to time I always tend to come back to stuff from the 70s/80s or earlier is that it's easy to get a feel for what happens before jumping into it, and it's unlikely that I'll get bushwhacked by new material. It was also common to maintain a certain status quo from beginning to end without too much long term plot development. Again, big changes can be nice to watch, but a status quo is better for fic writing.

- Characters who aren't usually the POV character, especially characters like Holmes or Raffles who are really central to story but still somewhat mysterious to the canon POV character in terms of how or what they think. There's always a lot to explore there.

[thisbluespirit]

Those sound like good choices! I have a soft spot for rare and minor characters, too.

[potentiality_26]

They're a lot of fun!

[firestorm717]

Questions 11, 12, and my very naughty 15: What was your favorite explicit sex scene to write? ;)

[potentiality_26]

11. What kind of relationships are you most interested in writing?

I mainly write romantic and ship/centric fics. And as I mentioned in an earlier answer, I really love pining/not-actually-unrequited-love ships. But as much as I love them, I do think those fics can get a bit silly if there isn't a good reason for one or both parties to think their feelings must be kept secret (antagonism in canon, age difference or power imbalance, social mores, etc.), so I tend to favor ships like that.

So on the one hand I do really enjoy strong friendship/equal partnership turned romance type ships, and on the other hand I like ships with hero(ine)/villain, age difference, and manipulation/power play elements as well. And anything that manages to fall in the center of that Venn diagram and borrow a bit from both is really in the sweet spot.

12. For E-rated fic, what are some things your characters keep doing?

Of my 25 explicit fics I think only two are established relationship, so I guess "having first time/get-together sex" is probably the answer. Otherwise... I'm not sure. I like to change it up with regards to positions/sex acts/who tops or bottoms.

Honestly I often get more out of the sexual tension part of a fic than the release of said tension, so maybe I could also say, "take forever to fall into bed" is something my characters keep on doing. Even when I set out to write PWP it grows a plot half the time.

15. What was your favorite explicit sex scene to write?

Hope and Good Intentions is a favorite. There are multiple sex scenes in it and it's hard to pick just one. I don't normally make sex too central the larger plot/character development (often it's more of a treat tacked on at the end), but in this case it was a big part of the story and I really enjoyed it.

And speaking of sexual tension, my ultimate sexual tension fic was probably Love Potion No. 9, where a character gets dosed with sex pollen and they don't have sex. I really felt like I was torturing myself as much as the reader putting it off like that, and I had a great time writing it. But I've sadly gone off that fic a little bit since it got name dropped on tumblr in an anti-dub-con discourse post as, like, the one fic that treated it as appropriately damaging. And I would have liked to be flattered, but I was mostly thinking how I've got exactly no problem with dub-con in fics and just happen to find noble restraint titillating.

[telemicus]

2, 7, 9?

[potentiality_26]

2. Which of your own fanfics have you reread the most?

Probably Until I Saw Your Face, because it's so long (12 chapters, over 100,000 words) that I had to keep going back over it to check details as I posted. But I haven't reread it since I finished, so take that with a grain of salt. Probably my various Thorne fics are the ones I've read most often for pleasure. I'm pretty much the only one writing fics in that fandom, so if I want something to read that's where I have to go.

7. Name three stories you found difficult to write.

Idle Hands, Giving Thanks, and By the Sound of Your Name are three recent ones I would say it was difficult to write. Nothing special about them, exactly- it's just that sometimes I just finish a fic, feel like it's weak, and spend the next while (five years, in the case of "Giving Thanks") avoiding the editing step as they judge me from my WIP folder.

9. What do your fic bookmarks say about you?

Well, I don't use AO3 bookmarks, which probably does say something about me. As for the ones I have bookmarked/downloaded, they probably show a clear stratification of fandoms/ships, where I'll read a ton for just one and then move on to something else for a while.

[telemicus]

Thanks for answering! sorry I take forever to respond, work has me swamped these days :/ but I just wanted to say I know the feeling having such tiny fandoms you end up rereading your own fic LOL I'm glad I'm not the only one who does that -- it's one of the few times in life that it helps I have such a terrible memory!!

Also, I TOTALLY get this: "And speaking of sexual tension, my ultimate sexual tension fic was probably Love Potion No. 9, where a character gets dosed with sex pollen and they don't have sex. I really felt like I was torturing myself as much as the reader putting it off like that, and I had a great time writing it. But I've sadly gone off that fic a little bit since it got name dropped on tumblr in an anti-dub-con discourse post as, like, the one fic that treated it as appropriately damaging. And I would have liked to be flattered, but I was mostly thinking how I've got exactly no problem with dub-con in fics and just happen to find noble restraint titillating."

I'm the same, sex pollen or aliens-made-us-do-it dub con has never bothered me, possibly because it takes out the agency of any bad guy being one of the pairing, but I have a HUGE thing for (as you so beautifully put it) finding noble restraint titillating :D :D

[potentiality_26]

I feel you, I've been really busy lately too <3

Yeah, I'm that way about sex pollen/aliens-made-us-do-it too, but noble restraint is really great!