Writing meme found here and there

Ask me questions about writing. One or more is fine. :) x-posting the answers from Dreamwidth as well.

1. Which is your favorite of the fics you've written for X fandom?

velvetwhip asked about my favourite Peter Pan-fic. That is probably Silence as it scares me, and I'm the one who wrote it. But I also really like The Haunting of Mrs. Darling.

nenya_kanadka asked about my favourite Doctor Who-fic. I’m actually very pleased with all of them, but I think I like Solace best. It took some really strange turns but ultimately said what I wanted it to.

2. Favorite piece overall?

3. Which was the hardest to write, in terms of plot?

4. Which has the most "you" in it, however you'd define that?

Hmm, that's hard to say. In a way every rape victim I have ever written about is me, though that may sound more dramatic than it actually is. What happened to me was far less dramatic and violent, though traumatic enough. In many ways I write as self-therapy, and the way my heroine react often has a lot of how I react in them.

Apart from that; Solace, which is sprung from grieving a relative that died recently.

5. What is an image/set of images that you're particularly proud of?

I don’t know. Nothing that springs to mind.

6. Idea that you always wanted to write but could never make work?

7. Least favorite plot point/chapter/moment?

When I first started to write almost everything I wrote was self-therapy and a good deal of those fics involved minors. I can’t stress enough how that is not a kink of mine, I used it as a tool to show how utterly helpless you feel when you are subjected to abuse. I wouldn’t write it today and I have pulled almost all of them from the Net. Those left has either been re-written or I feel that the story is worth reading anyway. Also, age of consent in Sweden is fifteen, so my own piece of mind work for that age, though I know that age differ in other countries.

8. Favorite plot point/chapter/moment?

9. Favorite character to write?

Indeed, a good tragedy can be very cathartic. :)

Hmm, favourite character or favourite type of character? I’ll go for both, they are mixed up anyway. I could say that I prefer villains, but that’s only true up to a point. I like to write characters that are morally ambiguous, which usually means the bad guy/girl. Villains that are completely evil with no redeeming qualities don’t interest me. My first fandom was Peter Pan, but it was Captain Hook that interested me. If you read the book it becomes rather clear that he and Peter Pan are about equally bad- it would be very easy to write it so Hook look like the hero. And I have written Dracula, I have a long standing fascination with vampires and I have written Willy Wonka who is probably meant to be a Good Guy, but could really be either way. I prefer heroes who aren’t shining white knights as well, which is probably why I love Doctor Who, so much. And now, of course, I enjoy writing the Master, who fits in very nicely, indeed. Not to mention River Song.

10. Favorite line or lines of dialogue that you've written.

How tricky! Many, many of my fics start with a sentence or a piece of monologue and then I go from there. And with over 60 fics and 10 years of writing, I'm not sure that I can really say which is my favourite lines. At least not if I don't do a massive re-read. But of my recent writing I'm quite pleased with the whole A Conversation (Well, it is a rather short story) and this bit in Dead Girls Like Us:

“I assume that you tried to conquer the world again to impress him.”

The teaspoon tinkled angrily as Missy stirred her tea. “I might.”

“You know, if you stopped trying to blow up the things he cares about you might get luckier.”

“But he cares about so much!”

“And you can’t change that. You can’t change him either, only yourself.”

Missy looked up and River saw the very real despair in her eyes. ”I can’t.”

“Then I’m sorry. For you both.”

11. If I'm showing off just one of your pieces to someone, which one should it be?

12. What WIPs do you have going now? Are you excited about them?

13. Are there any things that might have happened in any of your stories, but you changed them at the last minute? (So-and-so dies, they don't actually kiss, main character has long extended ballet-based dream sequence, etc.)

14. Would you want to write canon for any of your fandoms (like be hired by showrunner to do an episode)? Which one?

15. Does font matter to you when you're writing a draft?

I was going to say not really, but actually, I do prefer to write in Times Roman 12 and do change the format to it.

16. 3 favorite comments ever received on fanfic.

I can’t honestly name three specific comments, sorry. I can say that even a short “Nice work!” make my day. But my favourite kind of comment are those that show that they have got what I have tried to say with it or that it has made them think.

17. Any mean comments? How'd you deal with it? Who laid the smackdown?

Considering how many subject I write about that is potentially triggering, I have had very few negative comments and never any flames. I have been told that a reader have disliked certain themes, but I don’t feel too bothered by those. I don’t want to upset anyone, I understand that certain things can be disliked, but that’s why I try to give correct warnings for my fics. And if someone chose to read anyway and get upset, well, in that case I feel that it isn’t my problem.

I’ve also had complaints that my stories end badly, which usually mean that they often don’t have a happy ending. I’m not very bothered by those either. It’s a matter of taste, I don’t feel the need to read or write things that always end up happily- life doesn’t work that way. I can understand that if one wants to read things that end happily, I enjoy feel-good stories too, but I also think this is a matter of personal taste, not because my story was bad. Still, it’s never fun to get negative comments, but I don’t let it bother me.

It has never been from anyone I know, usually those comments are anonymous.

18. If you could go back and revise one of your older stories, which would it be?

19. Do you make up scenes at work/on the bus/at the gym? Who are the characters that pop up the most? Do you write them down?

Yes I do, all the time. And walking the dogs and falling asleep. In fact, I have been “writing” stories in my head since I was a child, so long before I actually wrote. I usually go through a whole story, or chapter in my head several times before I write it down. I can write down snatches of dialouge or a few sentences to remember a particular thing I want to make sure I don’t forget. What characters that pop up depends on what I feel more interested in at the moment. But it’s usually the bad guys that turn up the most. :)

20. Go nuts, and talk about writing.

Writing meme found here and there

Ask me questions about writing. One or as many you like. :) x-posting with my answers from LJ as well.


1. Which is your favorite of the fics you've written for X fandom?

velvetwhip asked about my favourite Peter Pan-fic. That is probably Silence as it scares me, and I'm the one who wrote it. But I also really like The Haunting of Mrs. Darling.

nenya_kanadka asked about my favourite Doctor Who-fic. I’m actually very pleased with all of them, but I think I like Solace best. It took some really strange turns but ultimately said what I wanted it to.

2. Favorite piece overall?

3. Which was the hardest to write, in terms of plot?

4. Which has the most "you" in it, however you'd define that?

Hmm, that's hard to say. In a way every rape victim I have ever written about is me, though that may sound more dramatic than it actually is. What happened to me was far less dramatic and violent, though traumatic enough. In many ways I write as self-therapy, and the way my heroine react often has a lot of how I react in them.

Apart from that; Solace, which is sprung from grieving a relative that died recently.

5. What is an image/set of images that you're particularly proud of?

I don’t know. Nothing that springs to mind.

6. Idea that you always wanted to write but could never make work?

7. Least favorite plot point/chapter/moment?

When I first started to write almost everything I wrote was self-therapy and a good deal of those fics involved minors. I can’t stress enough how that is not a kink of mine, I used it as a tool to show how utterly helpless you feel when you are subjected to abuse. I wouldn’t write it today and I have pulled almost all of them from the Net. Those left has either been re-written or I feel that the story is worth reading anyway. Also, age of consent in Sweden is fifteen, so my own piece of mind work for that age, though I know that age differ in other countries.

8. Favorite plot point/chapter/moment?

9. Favorite character to write?

Indeed, a good tragedy can be very cathartic. :)

Hmm, favourite character or favourite type of character? I’ll go for both, they are mixed up anyway. I could say that I prefer villains, but that’s only true up to a point. I like to write characters that are morally ambiguous, which usually means the bad guy/girl. Villains that are completely evil with no redeeming qualities don’t interest me. My first fandom was Peter Pan, but it was Captain Hook that interested me. If you read the book it becomes rather clear that he and Peter Pan are about equally bad- it would be very easy to write it so Hook look like the hero. And I have written Dracula, I have a long standing fascination with vampires and I have written Willy Wonka who is probably meant to be a Good Guy, but could really be either way. I prefer heroes who aren’t shining white knights as well, which is probably why I love Doctor Who, so much. And now, of course, I enjoy writing the Master, who fits in very nicely, indeed. Not to mention River Song.

10. Favorite line or lines of dialogue that you've written.

How tricky! Many, many of my fics start with a sentence or a piece of monologue and then I go from there. And with over 60 fics and 10 years of writing, I'm not sure that I can really say which is my favourite lines. At least not if I don't do a massive re-read. But of my recent writing I'm quite pleased with the whole A Conversation (Well, it is a rather short story) and this bit in Dead Girls Like Us:

“I assume that you tried to conquer the world again to impress him.”

The teaspoon tinkled angrily as Missy stirred her tea. “I might.”

“You know, if you stopped trying to blow up the things he cares about you might get luckier.”

“But he cares about so much!”

“And you can’t change that. You can’t change him either, only yourself.”

Missy looked up and River saw the very real despair in her eyes. ”I can’t.”

“Then I’m sorry. For you both.”

11. If I'm showing off just one of your pieces to someone, which one should it be?

12. What WIPs do you have going now? Are you excited about them?

13. Are there any things that might have happened in any of your stories, but you changed them at the last minute? (So-and-so dies, they don't actually kiss, main character has long extended ballet-based dream sequence, etc.)

14. Would you want to write canon for any of your fandoms (like be hired by showrunner to do an episode)? Which one?

15. Does font matter to you when you're writing a draft?

I was going to say not really, but actually, I do prefer to write in Times Roman 12 and do change the format to it.

16. 3 favorite comments ever received on fanfic.

I can’t honestly name three specific comments, sorry. I can say that even a short “Nice work!” make my day. But my favourite kind of comment are those that show that they have got what I have tried to say with it or that it has made them think.

17. Any mean comments? How'd you deal with it? Who laid the smackdown?

Considering how many subject I write about that is potentially triggering, I have had very few negative comments and never any flames. I have been told that a reader have disliked certain themes, but I don’t feel too bothered by those. I don’t want to upset anyone, I understand that certain things can be disliked, but that’s why I try to give correct warnings for my fics. And if someone chose to read anyway and get upset, well, in that case I feel that it isn’t my problem.

I’ve also had complaints that my stories end badly, which usually mean that they often don’t have a happy ending. I’m not very bothered by those either. It’s a matter of taste, I don’t feel the need to read or write things that always end up happily- life doesn’t work that way. I can understand that if one wants to read things that end happily, I enjoy feel-good stories too, but I also think this is a matter of personal taste, not because my story was bad. Still, it’s never fun to get negative comments, but I don’t let it bother me.

It has never been from anyone I know, usually those comments are anonymous.

18. If you could go back and revise one of your older stories, which would it be?

19. Do you make up scenes at work/on the bus/at the gym? Who are the characters that pop up the most? Do you write them down?

Yes I do, all the time. And walking the dogs and falling asleep. In fact, I have been “writing” stories in my head since I was a child, so long before I actually wrote. I usually go through a whole story, or chapter in my head several times before I write it down. I can write down snatches of dialouge or a few sentences to remember a particular thing I want to make sure I don’t forget. What characters that pop up depends on what I feel more interested in at the moment. But it’s usually the bad guys that turn up the most. :)

20. Go nuts, and talk about writing.